Reunited
by TwilightSpeed
Summary: Sequel to "Too Little, Too Late." Bella returns to Forks after 100 years and find someone she never expected to see.
1. Prologue

**A/N: So! Here's the sequel. Couldn't stop writing for long. This is really short because well, prologues can be :P It's like in Twilight, where you get an idea of what will happen later on. **

**The characters don't belong to me, sadly, apart from one! But yeah :D Enjoy.  
**

_Chapter Song – Breaking Benjamin – So Cold_

_When you find your family,_

_Don't you cry. _

_In this land of make-believe,_

_Dead and dry._

_You're so cold, but you feel alive._

_Lay your hands on me one last time. _

Prologue

I told them coming to Forks was a bad idea. There was too much past for me here, and I wasn't ready to face it. 100 years doesn't seem like a long time when you have forever to dwell on your past. I remember how my life ended, and I wasn't sure I wanted to go back to the place everything happened. The place in which I was born, the place in which my life changed, and the place in which I died. Carlisle insisting, claiming it would do me good. I conceded in the end, expecting the worst. However, I never expected this.

I was standing in the meadow that changed my life, my hand holding Edward's. My nose burnt and my body was screaming at me to run, but I couldn't move. In front of us was a giant wolf. His fur was chocolate brown, and his black eyes were filled with fury. He was crouched in an attack position, growling, not taking his eyes off of us. Throwing my shield off of me, I asked Edward what he was thinking. Edward just shook his head.

"I can't read his mind."


	2. Return

**A/N: So, going into the story. This is still a pretty slow chapter, just filling in whats happened during the past few years. Enjoy.**

**I own nothing, apart from one character.  
**

_Chapter Song – Breaking Benjamin – Away_

_Don't cry,_

_Clear away this hate,_

_We can start to make it alright. _

_So fly away, and leave it behind, _

_Return some day, with red in your eyes._

Return

I stared up at the star-filled sky, lost in thought. I was alone in the world, but by choice. I was travelling around the world, seeing the sights, while Edward and the Cullen's settled down in Forks. I was meant to return to them last week when Edward did, after getting the all clear. I knew they thought I was being stupid, because after 100 years, no one would remember me there. Everyone I knew would be dead. Regardless, I was trying to find reasons not to return to Forks. The treaty was still in tact with the Quileute tribe down in La Push. One of Ephraim Black's grandchildren had spoken to Carlisle to re-make the treaty. Edward hadn't broken it exactly, as Jacob had given him permission…

Jacob. That was the reason I didn't want to go back, and I think Edward realised that. The wolf that re-made the treaty with Carlisle was a descendent from Ephraim, meaning a descendent from Jacob. If things had gone how they should have, I would have had Jacob's son. Instead, he died in a tragic accident when the two sides of my life collided when I was 8 and half months pregnant. Jacob had clearly moved on with his life for there to be another child, and for this I was grateful. However, I didn't feel strong enough to look into the eyes of Jacob's children, or grandchildren. Plus, Jacob was immortal for as long as he continued phasing, meaning he could be there still.

I sighed and closed my eyes. The stars were bringing me no peace tonight. Although I resented using it like this, I turned to my gift. I had the ability to shield myself from anything I desired, and for anyone I desired. At first, it was natural and innate, and only worked against mental gifts such as Edward's mind reading power. However, as I learnt to develop it, I found out I could shield myself, and others, from more than that. It was only when we went to visit the Tanya and her family that I found this out. Kate asked me if I could project, and I asked her what that was. That's when I learnt that my shield could be manipulated.

It was hard to learn, but soon I was able to stop Kate's shocks from hurting Edward. He was proud of me when I finally managed it, and I finally felt like I would be able to help my family out should the need ever arise. It was much later on, towards the fifty year anniversary of my son's death thatI learnt to shield myself from other gifts. Lost in despair, I resented Jasper's interference. He was trying to calm me down, and settle my mood. Although I knew he just wanted to help, I didn't appreciate it, as I wanted to mourn for my son and he wasn't letting me. I glared at him, and willed him to stop. I felt a strange swelling around me and his interference was gone. Perplexed, I stopped glaring at Jasper's confused face. As soon as I stopped rejecting his gift, it came back. I had found a new way of shielding myself, and from that moment onwards, spent the next twenty years developing how to stop any gift from affecting me, or those I cared for. Since perfected, no gift has managed to get past my shield, unless I've let it. It wasn't often that I took my shield completely down, but when I did, I was vulnerable to everything, including Edward's mind reading power.

But it wasn't this side of the gift I was going to use now; I could shield myself from my own feelings. It wasn't something I liked to do often, because it made me feel like a hollow shell. I did it regardless, because the pain was overpowering, and I needed time to think. I needed to think of anything that wasn't Jacob, that wasn't Blake, and that wasn't waiting for me deep in the forests of Forks. With the pain engulfing me, however, it was all I could think about. Within seconds, the pain had gone. My shield had stopped the despair that was taking over, and blocked the thoughts that fuelled them. Some people, like Carlisle, thought the key was just self control and discipline. He believed that, as a shield, the reason I could stop these kinds of things was because I willed myself to stop thinking about them, rather than I was shielding myself. Personally, I thought they were both the same thing, and I was grateful to be able to do it, regardless of how I did it, especially at times like this.

With the pain gone, and those thoughts at bay, I remembered some other things that had happened in the past one hundred years. The first year of being a vampire was difficult, but I managed it. To this day, I'd never drunk human blood. Quite possibly because of the shield, I was able to skip the new born phase. The red eyes faded, and I was quickly put back into school. We did go to Scotland, but we didn't stay there long, only a few months. Everyone wanted to stay longer; the weather was suitable, the people kept their distance, and we had the nicest house. Much nicer than the one in Forks. However, Rosalie slipped up after a few months, and we were forced to leave. Everyone was angry at her, even Emmett was off with her. They had all settled in, and Rose was the type who would always complain when they had to move, or when someone messed up. I guess people thought she was hypocritical. Strangely though, that was when Rosalie and I became closer.

It was the day after Rose had attacked the young man whose blood called to her. She was sitting alone in her room, hiding away from everyone. She was ashamed and felt like she had let everyone down; these were emotions I was used to, so I could empathise with her. We were all sitting in the front room, playing games, reading and generally just relaxing. Every now and then, I saw Jasper shot annoyed glances upwards towards Rosalie's room. Whenever this happened, Edward would sigh and roll his eyes at Jasper. Carlisle and Esme were out having dinner together to celebrate eighty years together, which is why Jasper was making his discontent unknown, and how Rose got away with hiding.

After Jazz had glanced upwards for the twentieth time, I got up sighing. Everyone turned to look at me.

"You shouldn't really victimize her like this. Everyone messes up. So what if we'd just settled in here? You all know for a fact that if it was me who had messed up, none of you would have had a problem. So why do you have one with Rosalie?"

"Bella, you're a new born, it's acceptable…" Edward started, but quickly stopped under my glare.

"Don't give me that excuse. You're all vampires, you all feel the bloodlust. And Rose most probably forgot to hunt, or didn't hunt until her thirst was sufficiently quenched, and then ran into someone whose blood called to her, stronger than the rest of the humans. Are you trying to tell me that have never happened to any one of you? That none of you have ever made a mistake? You've all never drank human blood? Is that what you're trying to tell me?" I stopped, letting my words sink in. Each of them looked ashamed of their behaviour, Jasper especially. "Yeah, that's what I thought." I stormed off, upstairs to see Rosalie. She was already waiting by her door, having heard everything. Her ruby eyes bore into my ruby eyes, and she hugged me.

"Thank you."

That was the start of my friendship with Rosalie, and it continued to grow from there. We went hunting together more often, and she spoke a lot more about her past. I found out why she was so angry with me in the first place, about how she was meant for Edward, about her vanity and her jealousy. She explained to me that it wasn't because she lusted over Edward, but it was because Edward wanted me, not her. It was something she never understood until now, although I still couldn't understand. Then we talked about her anger when I wanted to be one of them, how I was throwing away everything she wanted. But that changed when I fell pregnant, and she wanted to get close to me then, but was scared it would have been taken the wrong way. I confided in her how I felt about losing Blake, but it wasn't a very long conversation, as I broke down quickly. I'd never brought it up, and neither did she.

After Scotland, we all moved back to Canada and set up home there. Everything went smoothly, and we started high school again. It was strange being back in high school, even stranger when I noticed how all the boys, and some of the girls, were looking at me. None of them had the courage to speak to me however, and the Cullen's and Hale's just stayed as an outsider group. It was in our last year in Canada that Edward proposed to me.

He had taken me out to a candle-lit dinner on what we decided would be our anniversary; the day he saved me in Port Angeles. We had a quiet little booth on the far side of the restaurant, and although neither of us ate or drank, we still ordered food. It was all for show, and the food was subtly put into plastic bags in my bag to make it look like we'd eaten. Even though we weren't technically human, it didn't stop us wanting to do typical human things. That said, I didn't expect Edward to propose. Just as the dinner plates were taken away, empty, Edward left his chair and came to kneel down by me. He took my hand in his, warm to me now, and kissed it gently. Electricity and passion burned through me; my body still reacted much in the same way to Edward and if I had my way, we'd spend most of our time locked away in the bedroom. However, Edward had insisted on 'balance'.

"I love you Bella. Everything I have is yours," he said, looking me directly in the eyes. I was still dazzled by him, and I lost all ability to speak. "You have given me everything you have, including your life, but I ask for one more thing." He paused, trying to gauge how I was reacting. Inside, my thoughts were racing, wondering what more he could ask for. Naivety, it seems, lingered into my vampire lifestyle. I continued to look at his painstakingly beautiful face, and he smiled my favourite crooked smile. "Isabella Marie Swan, will you marry me?" I stayed silent, unable to say anything because happiness was swelling inside of me. I wanted to scream yes, to hug him and kiss him all over, but my emotions left me motionless. His phone started buzzing, and not taking his now worried eyes off me, he answered. "Hello?"

"Oh. My. God!" I heard Alice gush on the other side. "You totally have to let me plan it. I can't believe you didn't tell me! I can't believe I didn't see you were planning it! Oh my God, Edward! You're getting married! Oh! I can see it now, it'll be beautiful. Bella is going to look more amazing than ever. Oh, I just can't wait. I have to start planning it now… Okay! You two finish up, quickly, and come home. There's so much to plan!" With that, she hung up. I had managed to gain some control over my body, and I was grinning.

"I guess you have you're answer," I joked, pulling him into a hug. "Yes, I will. I will marry you, Edward Cullen."

I sighed happily, and opened by eyes, bringing myself back to the present. I looked up at the stars again and found the peace in them I was looking for before even though thinking of Edward was making me restless, and I just wanted to rush back to him. It had only been a week since he had left to go to Forks, but it felt like a lifetime. I didn't cope well without Edward; being perfect for each other had its draw backs like that. I knew that Edward was most likely to be worrying a lot about me, but no matter how much I missed him, and needed him, I couldn't speak to him tonight. Over the past few nights, he had been wearing me down, trying to convince me to go to Forks. He was getting very close, but I needed to be sure this was what I wanted. I had turned my phone off, blocked myself Alice, and blocked my scent. There was no finding me tonight. Tonight it was just me, myself and my thoughts. Not wanting to think about what lay ahead of me in Forks, I closed my eyes and thought back to the day I became Mrs Bella Cullen.

We had given Alice complete design over the wedding, although I told her that I didn't want there to be anyone else there apart from the Cullen's and Tanya's family. It was going to be a small gathering, but I felt that best. I also wanted it to be somewhere that we could be ourselves and not have to hide. I confided in Esme that what I always wanted was a sunset beach wedding, but I couldn't see how that was possible. However, she just smiled and rushed off to confer with Alice. So, until the day before my wedding, the location was a complete secret to me. Due to my desire for there to be no humans, Emmett was going to do the wedding for us, and Edward and I wrote our own vows. Rosalie and Esme were my bridesmaids, and Alice was my maid of honour.

Alice designed the dress I was going to wear, and got Rose to make it. It was purple, and off the shoulder design. The dress was tight fitted, showing my curves, until it got to my hips. Then it became loose and flowed outwards into a train. Around my waist there was intricate detail of white roses made out of beads. For the centre of each rose was a diamond. The sleeves of the dress were connected to the top part of the dress, which cut inwards to show as much cleavage as possible. Again, there was the white rose design, but the rose that was in the centre of the cleavage was a red rose, with a ruby for the centre. I insisted on the flash of red as a sign of remembrance; of everything I lost, and everything I gained. It went well with the white and the light purple, and my dress was completely stunning.

In comparison, the bridesmaid dresses were reasonably simple. They too were off the shoulder designs, but without the rose details. They were both purple, but the bottom half cut out at the front, showing an undercoat of white. Alice's maid of honour dress was pretty much the same, although the colours were different. Her dress was dark red and white. At first, I was worried about the three different colours not matching, but the morning of the wedding, when we all were gathered into one room, dressed, I could see that they all matched. The red on my dress linked it all together.

There was quite a distance to travel to get to the location of the wedding. So much so that Carlisle booked a private jet to take us all there. This was prepared with three months to spare before the wedding, and Jasper took a quick course into flying a jet so that he could fly us there. My new family was doing as much as they possibly could to keep me away from humans on my wedding day. The jet was small and cramped, especially as we had Tanya's family with us too, and it made me feel uncomfortable. For the most part, I looked out of the window and wondered where we were going, and what the wedding would be like. The sun was setting as we started to land. Below me, I could only see water. I looked up at Edward, puzzled. He just smirked.

In the distance, I could see it now. A small island covered in trees. There was a small port and about half a mile west of that, a small runway. How Jasper was going to land this jet on a runway so small, I didn't know. But I was glad to realise that no matter what was to happen, none of us were going to die. Jasper did manage it, and we all got off safely and I stood and stared at the beautiful island in front of me.

"Welcome to Island Esme," Edward whispered in my ear. I turned to face him, confused.

"Island Esme?"

"I brought this island for Esme as a wedding present," Carlisle explained, looking at Esme with love in his eyes. "It's completely secluded, and you'll be able to have the beach wedding you wanted." I grinned.

"Thank you. All of you." I took Edward's hand, and he led me to the only house on the island, with the rest of the family following. It was a reasonably small house, with only two bedrooms.

"It's a bit small…" Edward said, apologetically. "But as none of us sleep, I'm sure we can work around that." Everyone nodded, and set off to do their own things. I walked out of the back doors onto the beach, and looked up at the sunset. My skin gently sparkled in the faded sunlight, and I felt Edward's arm wrap around me. "How do you like it?" he asked, kissing the side of my neck. I sighed, and turned to face him. There was sadness in my eyes that he saw straight away, and he recognised it too.

"It's perfect," I said slowly. "I just wish that they could be here to see it too." Fighting back the dry sobs that threatened to overpower me, I turned to look back at the sea. Whenever I saw something beautiful, or was at my happiest, my past always brought it back down. I always wished that Blake, Charlie and Jacob could be with me to see it. It was even worse now. The happiest time of my life, and the other side of my life could never see it. They would never see how happy I could have been. Edward had learnt by now what I wanted when I went into one of these moods. He kissed me once again on the cheek, and released me.

"I'll let you have some time alone. You know where I am if you need me. I love you," he said just before he turned and walked back into the house. I walked down to the sea and sat by the edge, letting it come up around me. I sighed, and let the despair overcome me. It would be better to let it all out now rather than let it fester and potentially ruin my wedding day. I told myself to move on and forget about it, but how can you forget half of your life? I sat there for nearly five hours, letting it all out. By the time I was ready to go back in, I was soaking wet. I walked in and saw everyone else was out, apart from Edward. He waited for me and pulled me into a hug. Not saying anything, I pressed myself closer to him and kissed him. Glad that the house was empty, although looking back I realise it was intentionally for this reason, Edward and I fell into the bedroom to enjoy each other one last time as Bella Swan and Edward Cullen.

The next day was a blur. Alice made me sit completely still while she did my hair and make up. Apparently have vampire beauty wasn't enough for her; I had to have the beauty of make up as well. I sat there, numb and scared about what was coming up, and let her have her way with me. I knew she could have done this all within an hour, but Alice being Alice dragged it out over the course of 5 hours. She went and got ready, and was ready within ten minutes, but I guess that's not her point. Rolling my eyes, I stood up and went to look outside. Alice was one step in front of me, stopping me. Rolling my eyes again, I sat down with Rosalie while Alice finished off decorating.

Three hours later, everything was ready and it was time for me to go outside. Kate was singing, as we didn't have a piano, and the music carried inside. Carlisle met me at the door, as he was giving me away. We took two quick steps, turned the corner and I saw what Alice had done. She had transformed the beach into something else. There was an arch down at the bottom of the isle, covered in roses and falling petals. The isle itself was made from smoothed down stones of all different colours. The seats were on each side, and although there weren't many people sitting there, it made my heart swell for everyone who had come. Words could not describe the scene in front of me, and while trying to take it all in, I saw Edward. He was standing under the arch, smiling. He was wearing a black tuxedo, and the green hint behind his onyx eyes called to me. I smiled at him, and Carlisle and I moved quickly down the isle. He took my hand and we stood looking at each other. Emmett was standing behind the alter, looking mischievous.

"We are gathered here today to finally see these two, Edward Cullen and Isabella-"

"Bella," I corrected him, under my breath. Everyone laughed. He glared at me and carried on.

"_Isa_bella Swan, joined in marriage. Luckily for me, they wrote their own vows. Edward, would you like to recite yours?"

"Bella, through everything we've been through, I have always known you were the one for me. From that moment in biology that I first saw you, I knew that there was something different. At first, I believed it was just your blood calling to me. I see now that it was so much more. I look at you now, standing before me, and it is as if my heart is beating again. You brought me back to life. Before you, I thought I had everything in my life. If you were to leave me, I realise I would have nothing. Isabella Swan, I love you with every fiber of my being, and here today, I vow to love you until the end of time." If I could cry, I would. These words made mine seem insignificant. Regardless, I spoke them.

"Edward, you have made me complete. With you by my side, I know that I can over come anything. Without you, I would have crumbled when I lost Blake. Without you, I would have crumbled when I found out about him. But fundamentally, without you, I would not be here. Here surrounded by those I love, and those that love me. Without you in my life, Edward Cullen, I would be nothing. Regardless of the difficulties, you took me and you accepted me for me, and my flaws. For that, I will always be grateful. But for being you, I will always love you. Everyday I love you even more, and eternity does not seem long enough to me. On this day, I promise to be there for you, until the world ends." Edward's eyes portrayed the emotion I felt when he said his vows to me. I smiled at him, and he smiled at me. There was complete silence. I turned to look at Emmett, and saw he was silently dry sobbing. He caught me looking, and grinned sheepishly.

"Sorry. It's just beautiful. Anyway… As we have gathered here today and heard, Edward Cullen and Bella Swan declare to each other to love and cherish each other until the end of time. I hereby pronounce them husband and wife. You may kiss the bride."

Sighing happily, I sat up. Thinking about Edward, about the marriage, and the last hundred years just made me want to go back. As hard as it may be, I know with Edward, I can face it. I let my shield down, welcoming back other emotions. I also let Alice see that I was deciding to come back. Standing up, I turned to face the direction of Forks. Taking in a deep breath, I ran. Running back to Edward never felt more like running back home.


	3. Forks

**A/N: Sorry its taken so long for an update, been so busy and it's only cuz I've been put in isolation with swine flu that I've managed to get this done. Sorry that it's short as well, but I hope that you enjoy :) **

_Chapter Song – Billy Talent – Line and Sinker._

_Today I don't feel pretty,_

_And I'm trying to fit right in._

_Don't think that you're so great –_

'_Cause being great must suck._

Forks

I didn't stop running until I got to the boarder of Forks. I ran in a direction that would mean I wouldn't have to go through Forks to go to the Cullen's house. They were living back at the same house as before, the house that everything changed. I slowed to a walk, and following Edward's scent, I found my way through the trees. Stepping out into the space surrounding the house, I saw Edward. Before I rushed to him, I took in the surroundings. In the hundred years away, it appeared that nothing had changed. The house looked exactly the same; the same trees grew around it; the same plants blossomed. Although I knew that this was what Esme had been doing while I was away, the similarity of it still took my breath away. Edward was slowly moving closer to me, noting that I was standing perfectly still.

"Bella? Are you okay, love?" Edward gently raised his arms towards mine, while walking closer to me. I nodded, smiled apologetically, and raised a hand to halt him. I needed a moment to take this all in. I closed my eyes, and prepared myself. Everything I wanted was in front of me, and this I knew. Opening my eyes, I only saw Edward. The house was material, the garden was material, but Edward was my life. With in a second, I was in his arms, hugging him closely to me.

"I missed you," I whispered into his ear.

"I missed you, too."

"We all missed you, Bella! Now, stop hogging her!" Alice said, having just appeared at my side. I turned to her, and pulled her into an embrace. Alice had other plans, however, and jumped onto me, wrapping her legs around my waist. "You're not allowed to leave again, understood?" she growled menacingly into my ear. I nodded, and was suddenly bombarded by the whole family; I was home.

***

"So, tell me what happened when you went to La Push?" We were all sitting down in the dining room, catching up with what had happened over the past few months. Carlisle had already told me about getting his job back at the hospital, everyone being enrolled into Forks High School, starting tomorrow. Esme filled me in on the differences in the house, Alice told me about her shopping experiences up in Seattle, and Rose and Emmett rambled on about cars. Edward held my hand throughout the whole conversation. We had been talking for most of the night but La Push had yet to be mentioned. There was an awkward silence, and I could tell that it wasn't something that Carlisle wanted to talk about. I could feel Jasper trying to affect my emotions, so that I wasn't so curious, but I quickly blocked it. I shot him a dirty look. "I have a right to know, Jazz. So don't try and curb my curiosity."

"We were greeted by Quil…" Carlisle started, but I interrupted.

"Wait, what? Quil? As in the Quil that was around 100 years ago?!" It was one thing to believe that someone from the pack was around, another thing to hear it. Carlisle shook his head though.

"No, it wasn't the same Quil. This was Jacob's great-grandson." There was a pause when I took that in. All eyes were on me, and gently lifting my shield up for Edward, I told him to carry on. I saw him nod at Carlisle, and he continued talking. "So after Quil introduced himself, he said that the treaty was still intact, and was the same as before. He seemed pretty prepared for us."

"I'd say," scoffed Rose. "And I quote; 'we've been expecting you for a while now. Jacob told us all about you before he le-'" Rose suddenly stopped, and there was complete silence in the room. Jacob had been alive to tell his great-grandsons about us. Jacob could still be alive somewhere. I looked around wild eyed, a thousand different questions running through my mind.

"How old was Quil?"

"He had started phasing, and so age was hard to judge by appearance… But we asked, and he said he was thirty two." Carlisle answered softly. I did the math quickly in my head. Jacob would have lived for eighty four years when Quil was born. If he was leaving, then he would have still been young in some way, so maybe he hadn't stopped phasing.

"Where is Jacob now?" The awkward silence I thought I felt before was nothing in comparison to this. No one would look me in the eye, and I wasn't sure what to make of it. Either Jacob was still alive and they knew, or he had died.

"No one knows," Edward answered after what seemed a lifetime. "He went off, in wolf form, and if the werewolves know where he is, they aren't telling us."

"So, he is alive?"

"Yes." I sat there, numb. I was completely unsure on what to do; this was my worst nightmare coming true. "Or at least, the last time any spoke to him, he was. But that could have been years ago." I nodded slowly. There was a lot to take in, even with my extra space for thinking. I looked at the clock and was surprised to see that we had spent nearly the whole night talking.

"It's time to get ready for school," I said emotionlessly, getting up and walking to mine and Edward's room. Edward followed me silently, and once we were out of sight of the rest of the family, he pulled me into a hug. I sighed, and let the emotions come. We stood like that for half an hour before either of us spoke.

"Are you sure this is what you want to do, Bella?" Edward asked me, as I pulled away to get ready for school. He realised now the extent of pain I was feeling, and I could see concern on his face.

"It's been a hundred years. If I don't face it now, I never will. I'll be fine. Now, c'mon, we wouldn't want to be late for our first day of school," I said with a small smile. He returned the gesture with my favourite crooked grin, and a gentle kiss on my forehead. We quickly got dressed, and were waiting for the rest of the family by the door within ten minutes. Alice bounded down the stairs with Jasper just behind her. She stopped dead before me with a scowl worn on her face. I sighed; "What's the matter now, Alice?"

"I will never understand why you choose those clothes over the designer ones in your closet!" Alice exclaimed. Try as she might, over the last century, Alice had not managed to get me into designer clothes. I wore what I felt comfortable in, even if they were my sweats. Today I was just wearing a casual pair of jeans and a checkered blue shirt, and I didn't understand Alice's problem.

"Alice, I've told you a thousand times; I will wear what I'm comfortable in. Deal with it, okay?" I was a little sharp with her, but I wasn't in the mood today.

"Looks like somebody didn't get enough sleep last night," Emmett joked, jumping down the stairs in one go. Rose gracefully walked down behind him, shooting me a smile.

"I don't get enough sleep every night Em; I thought you had worked that out already? Let's go!" I replied, opening the door and heading towards the cars. We couldn't all fit into one car this year, so we were taking two. Edward and I were in his new black car, while the rest of the family was in the new dark blue car. If someone was to ask me what type of cars they were, I wouldn't have known. Even if I enjoyed the speed that fast cars produced, it wasn't enough for me to desire to know everything about a car.

As we pulled up into the car park of Forks High School, I knew there had been some dramatic changes. The school was much larger than when I remembered, with an extra three buildings and extended field. The student population seemed bigger and more diverse too. I was surprised to see that many of the Quileute's were attending now. I looked at Edward and saw I wasn't the only one that was surprised, but there was something more in his face that I couldn't interpret. It appeared to be confusion, shock but also anger; it made no sense.

"What it is?" I hissed at him. He shook his head but took in a deep breath. Watching him closely, I saw that the deep breath helped him relax, and he smiled while taking my hand and guiding me indoors. Even if the school was bigger, the entrance was still practically the same. The rooms were the same colour and set out the same. Edward walked me up to the desk holding my hand, with the rest of the Cullen's behind us. The receptionist looked up and was instantly breathless in Edward's presence.

"Hello, I'm Ms Smith, how may I help you?" she asked politely, not taking her eyes off Edward. Although I had gotten use to the effect Edward had on people, it still annoyed me. Especially when they were more attractive than me, like Ms Smith. She had long mahogany hair with striking blue eyes. She was on Rosalie's level on stunning, and it hurt to look at her lust for Edward. Jasper sent a wave of certainty my way to elevate the insecurities, and Edward's grip on my hand tightened.

"We're the Cullen family, starting new today. We need to pick up our timetables," Edward said.

"Of course," Ms Smith said in a gush of breath. She rustled round in the papers around her, and picked up six wads of paper. "Here you go, one for each of you, map included. If you need anything more, please don't hesitate to ask. Enjoy your time at Forks High school."

"Thank you," Edward said, turning away and giving each of us our timetables. I looked down and saw I had Biology first, followed by Trig. Sighing, I looked over to Edward and saw he had English and then Gym. "I can go back and change these, if you like? That way, we can be together for lessons." I shook my head.

"No, it's okay. I'll be fine. I'll see you at lunch, I love you," I said, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek and saying goodbye to everyone else. I turned and walked up towards biology, lost in thought, until I heard footsteps behind me. I spun round and saw Alice behind me. "Alice, what are you doing?"

"I have biology now too! Just because you only checked Edward's timetable doesn't meant that everyone else doesn't have lessons with you." She linked my arm and grinned at me. "Let's go!"

How she could be so enthusiastic about biology, I had no idea. As we walked closer to our biology room, fear gripped me. It was just like my first day before, the day I met Edward. It was slightly different in the sense that I knew people, and it wouldn't be like settling in completely new. Beside, after one hundred years of doing this whole new school process thing, I was getting use to it. But it was the fact that it was this school, this classroom, that changed everything. We paused outside the classroom, and taking in a deep breath I got ready to face my past.


	4. Truth

**A/N: Two in two days! Aren't you lucky XD I think I've got some creativity back, but I'd really like some feedback. I don't really like it when people beg for reviews, but I realise now how joyous reviews are. I love getting the notifications that this has been added to Story Alert, but reviews rock too :D **

**I own nothing, apart from Blake. I hope you enjoy :D**

**Oh, and! _Soulless_ is actually a book my friend has written and is editting just before it gets published :)  
**

_Chapter Song – Lady Gaga – Paparazzi _

_I'm your biggest fan,_

_I'll follow you until you love me._

_Papa,_

_Paparazzi._

The Truth

The room was exactly the same as I remembered, just without Edward. There was no one else in the room yet, so Alice and I walked over to the desk that Edward used to sit at. Alice took Edward's place, and I sat back into the same seat I sat all those years ago. Slowly, the other kids came into the room, each of them staring at Alice and me. This behaviour I was getting used to after a hundred years, but looking around, I saw features that I saw in the people I went to school with, and it was unsettling. There was Angela's hair on the girl sitting in front of me; Connor's eyes staring at me from across the room; Jess's voice whispering to the boy who had Quileute skin. I could hear every whisper, even those from the back of the room. They all consisted on the same thing.

"Who are they?"

"They're so beautiful. Do you think they're single?"

"Probably related to those other boys; the really strong looking ones."

"Yeah, but they look terrifying. These girls are gorgeous!"

"Who do you think they are?"

"Can you smell that?" That was even quieter, and caught my attention. Alice had tensed up beside me, and I felt like I was missing something. Looking round, I saw that two Quileute boys at the back of the classroom were staring at Alice, and they were the one that had spoken. They saw me looking at them, and averted their gaze. They appeared to be as tense as Alice, adding to the feeling that I was missing something. I turned to look at Alice, who just took a deep breath in and winced. That's when I noticed that I was blocking everything subconsciously, and I let my defenses fall until it was just my basic shield. Suddenly the smell hit my nose. It was too sweet, and it burnt. This had been described to me previously, and I knew that I smelled the werewolves for the first time in my hundred years for what they really were. It was overpowering and I wanted to escape as quickly as possible. Not only did the burning hurt my nose, it hurt deep down inside. Deep underneath the painful smell lingered something I remembered vaguely from my human years; Jacob's scent of which I adored. The memory was even more painful, and I was about to get up and leave when the teacher entered. Putting my shield back up to stop my sense of smell, I focused on the lesson ahead of me. Alice and I were briefly introduced, and Dr. West continued quickly with the lesson. We were learning about something mundanely boring and I didn't pay much attention as my mind and memories were a hundred years behind me.

It's strange how human memories fade. I remember how much Jacob meant to me with such clarity that I was sure I would never forget him. I remember how I felt when I saw him on the night that everything changed. I remember how angry I was at myself for hurting him how I did, and how grateful I was that he was still looking out for me. I could recall how I felt the moment he told me that he loved me, and the moment I first gave myself to him. Every feeling I had with him, I could summon up without a problem, whether it be negative or positive. But I struggled to recall his face, it would always elude me. I know he was beautiful, muscular, and mysterious, but so was Edward and I didn't know what lines I was blurring. With the Quileute's surrounding me, I thought I could remember Jacob's face more clearly, but it was still blurred. Sometimes I had pictures of faces contorted in pain to go with certain memories and emotions; the day I lied about the paternity of Blake being the main one.

"Bella, it's time to go," Alice nudged me out of my stupor. Looking down, I nodded and walked out of the room towards Trig. Alice called my name, but I ignored her, needing to be alone. Returning was having more complications than I thought.

I was alone in Trig, and it passed in much the same way as biology. The struggles I use to have with trig didn't bother me so much now, and I could afford to waste a lesson daydreaming about how different my life would have been if things had turned out for the better. I would have still been here, but I would have had nothing but positive memories. If Blake had survived, I would have told Jacob the truth at some point. And maybe we would have been able to come to some form of compromise. Maybe Jacob would have carried on phasing to see his son grow, to aid his son. Maybe Jake could have imprinted and been happy. Maybe a lot of things that will never happen.

By lunch, I had forced myself down into a terrible mood. I walked into the cafeteria and saw everyone staring at the same table I stared at years ago. I went up to collect my food with the eyes of everyone on me, following my every step. Jasper looked concerned for me, as did Edward. I knew there was no point trying to conceal my mood; even though I could, it wouldn't be beneficial. I lifted my mental shield from Edward. _I'm going to eat outside. I need some time alone. Sorry,_ I thought. I scooted around the side of the cafeteria and outside into the field. Disregarding my food, I sat until the cloudy sky of Forks staring into the greenery before me. I heard them coming up behind me but believed they'd just walked by. No one had ever had the confidence to talk to me before, but I'd never left the Cullen's before.

"Hi. You're Bella Cullen?" Déjà vu, all over again. I turned and looked up at the person who spoke. He was tall, muscled, and too old to be a student. I nodded. "Do you mind if I sit?" I gestured for him to sit down. He shot me a smile which lit up his face. His blonde hair was gelled in a messy way. His baby blue eyes stared into mine with intensity, as if he was trying to figure something out. I recognised him from somewhere, but I didn't know where. "I'm Mr. Newton. I teach English here." I nodded, numbly. Newton… The blue eyes, blonde hair… Mike Newton's grandchild? It was too much. "If you don't mind me saying so, but you don't look very happy, Bella."

"I'm okay, sir, thank you," I said politely, trying to avert my eyes.

"Are you sure?" His concern was deep rooted, but was not something I understood. I nodded again. He continued to look at me, and opened his mouth as if to say something, but closed it before he did. Shaking his head, he started to stand up. "Well, Bella, if you're sure. This is going to be a difficult time for you and if you need to talk, you know you can talk to me." With one last puzzled look, he walked back into the cafeteria. I stayed where I was sat, contemplating what was before me. I could interrogate Mr. Newton, try to find out if he is the grandson of Mike, and if so, then try to find out what he knows about Charlie, about Jacob, about what happened after I left. The way that he looked at me suggested he knew something; it was just a case of finding out what.

Dumping my food in the bins, I went back into the cafeteria with a new determination. My family was still sitting at the table, but I completely blanked them. I heard Edward call my name quietly, worry encroaching his voice. I listened as Jasper filled the rest of the table in on my new mood, and I nearly turned when I heard the soft intake of breath from Alice as she looked into the future. I was scared to find out what she saw, but more scared that Edward would try and stop me from talking to Mr. Newton. Glancing at the clock, I saw that lessons didn't start for another fifteen minutes, so that gave me fifteen minutes to find and get this information out of him. Which, given the fact I was blocking my sense of smell, proved to be difficult. Although my focus was strictly on finding out the truth, I was sure that should I let my defenses down, the despairing spiral would come back, and I wouldn't make it through the day. As such, I settled to finding Mr. Newton with only sight and hearing.

It was proving harder than I thought, and with five minutes to class, I gave up. I looked down at my timetable and saw that I had French, Gym and then English. With Mr. Newton. This was perfect; it was at the end of the day, so I could talk to him all I wanted then. Relaxing, I went to French, and saw Edward sitting at the back of the class, subject to a large amount of whisperings and stares. He smiled at me when I entered, and I sheepishly walked up to his desk and sat down next to him. Although he was still smiling, his eyes were both angry and worried. The green tint behind them smoldered furiously, and I knew that I was in trouble for not sitting with them at lunch. I sorted through my thoughts, putting those I didn't want him to see at the back of my brain, and then lifted my shield to him.

_I'm sorry, _I thought, keeping eye contact with him.

"What was wrong?" he murmured back, his lips barely moving. It was so quiet that the humans around us wouldn't have heard, and luckily for us, there seemed to be no werewolves in this class. Deciding it was too risky to keep my shield down, when there was so much I needed to hide, I decided that a vocal conversation would be best. I knew Edward would realise that there was something I was hiding from him, but it was something he was going to have to deal with, whether he liked it or not.

"Just the Quileute boys; brought back memories that I struggle to deal with. We both knew this was going to be difficult for me Edward, so cut me some slack and give me time to adjust." It wasn't far from the truth. After all, it was because of Jacob that I went outside to think. It was just Mr. Newton that managed to change it all around for me. The lesson had started, but neither of us was paying attention.

"You know that I want to be able to help you through this Bella, but when you completely blank the whole family, it makes us all wonder…" he left his sentence threateningly, as if I was threatening to do something.

"Makes you wonder what, exactly?" There was an anger that flared inside of me, but Edward's body language change. The anger in his posture and eyes disappeared, and was replaced by a deep rooted sadness.

"Alice sees you leaving." His voice was close to breaking, and I wondered what secrets lay in Forks that could make me want to leave the Cullens, to leave Edward. The pain of being away from Edward still haunted me to this day, and I felt uncomfortable being away from him for any long period of time. The week away from his recently was the longest I ever spent away from him, and even then I struggled. I shook my head in confusion.

"Why would I leave?" He mirrored the head shaking, just with sadness.

"I don't know. I was hoping you could tell me," he whispered, sounded defeated. I was sure that if I really was to leave, it couldn't be for long. Or that I'd take Edward with me. Or at least, he'd follow. But Edward and I have never argued, so I couldn't see what there could be to make me want to leave. Unless it was something Mr. Newton was going to tell me, something to do with my past. Comprehension flitted across my face, as I knew that whatever it was I was going to find out today would change everything. Edward saw the change in my face, and his face fell even more. "You know, you know what it is that will make you leave," he accused.

"No, I don't know. I just… I think I know where it stems from," I retorted. He stared at me, waiting for me to continue, but I didn't.

"Where?" he asked, but I just shook my head. I wasn't going to tell him, I couldn't. I didn't know exactly what I could be told that would make me want to leave, but it had to be bad. And there had to be a certain amount of betrayal in there… Edward had to already know, but be keeping it from me. I looked at him, trying to figure it out. His face just looked the same as always; perfect. Any secrets he was hiding from me, he was hiding well. I looked straight into his eyes, searching for something, anything, that would prove my suspicion wrong. However, the further I searched, the more I found, and the more my suspicions were confirmed. Hidden deep in Edward's eyes was fear; fear that I would find something out; fear that I already had.

"What are you hiding from me?" I asked. This time, it was him that was shaking his head, and he quickly broke eye contact with me and looked ahead. His body tensed up, and he was angry. Whether at himself or me, I didn't know, but I didn't care either. Edward Cullen was lying to me, and I was determined to find out what.

***

French and Gym flew by. I didn't speak to Edward throughout French and walked away without saying anything. Part of me knew I was being unreasonable, but I couldn't help myself. Edward had promised me that he'd never lie to me again, and keeping something from me constituted as a lie to me, meaning he'd broken his promise in one way or another. I had Gym with Emmett, and although he asked me what was up at lunch, he accepted my excuse about the Quileute boys, and didn't mention it again. Then it was time to go to English.

I walked into the room and saw Mr. Newton standing at the front of the class. He saw me, smiled, and I went up to talk to him. He seemed a little confused about my approach, but relaxed when the rest of the class piled in.

"Hello Bella, how can I help you?" he asked politely.

"Sir, I was wondering if I could talk to you after the lesson has finished. You were right earlier when you asked if there was anything wrong – there is, but I don't know how to phrase it." Although I failed to become more tactile, I still believed that honesty was the best policy in every case. Mr. Newton nodded sympathetically.

"Of course, Bella, it won't be a problem. I'll be free after this lesson, so if you wait behind, we can talk."

"Thank you, sir." With that, I turned and walked to a spare seat. I actually paid attention in class, because it was still a lesson that I enjoyed. Mr. Newton taught it well, and we were learning about a recent classic book called _Soulless_. When I say recent, I mean it was written in 2009, so a hundred years ago. It was a love story centering the world of magic. It was beautifully written, and could have easily have told my story, just without the heartbreak. Soon the end of the day came, and the class flew out of the classroom. Slowly I walked to the front desk, and sat down in front of it.

"So, what did you think of the book so far, Bella?" he asked, trying to spark up a conversation.

"It's beautiful, a modern day fairy tale…" Well, modern isn't really the word. Mr. Newton was looking at me strangely again, and if I could, I would have blushed. "Mr. Newton, why do you look at me like that? It's like… You recognise me or something…" Astonishingly, it was him who blushed.

"Forgive me Bella. It's just… I have been brought up with your picture in my household since I was a young boy."

"Come again?"

"My great grandfather was a police officer called Mike Newton." I knew it! But, a police officer? "He went to school here years ago, where he fell in love with this girl. Isabella Swan." He nodded in my direction, and I pulled a puzzled look over my face to try and hide the shock. I think he saw straight through it, because he smirked. "She was beautiful, bright, funny and hopelessly in love with Edward Cullen. They had many pictures together, and my grandfather kept one and passed it down, generation to generation, in case they were to ever come back."

"And because I have the same name, Bella, and Cullen, you thought of me?"

"No, because you look exactly like her! I always thought my grandfather was crazy, because the Bella he knew – you – was killed. It was a tragic accident, happened when she was eight months pregnant; killed by a bear, along with Edward Cullen, although neither body was ever found. Grandfather always thought there was something more, something no one was telling us. He went to talk to Jacob, who was there at the time of the accident, but he was so busy looking after Blake that he had…" I grabbed his hand suddenly, shocking him with the coldness into silence.

"What did you say?" I whispered urgently.

"Jacob… He was busy looking after Blake…"

"No, that's impossible" I said sharply. "Blake died. They told me Blake died." He gasped.

"You are Bella Swan!" I nodded, knowing this was going to complicate everything. "Bella… Blake survived."


	5. The Past

**A/N: I have no real reason to why it's taken so long to update, I've just not had the time to write. It's been quite annoying actually.**

**Anyway, I hope you all enjoy this. We'll be meeting Blake soon, which I'm excited about XD **

**I own no character, those all belong to the wonder of Stephaine, apart from Dan and Blake. They're all mine ^_^  
**

_Chapter Song – Skillet – Open Wounds_

_How could you,_

_How could you?_

_How could you love me?_

_When all you ever gave me, _

_Were open wounds. _

The Past

I continued talking to Mr. Newton for an hour after school. His first name was Dan, and he insisted that I used it while talking to him. It felt a little strange calling a teacher by his first name, but I was so desperate for this information that I gave in to his requests. He gave me his life story, how he had lived with Mike being determined to find out what had happened to Edward and me. He explained to me that after no one had found any bodies, it sent Mike into a spiral of delusions.

"Something else happened which furthered his belief that there was something not being said. He never missed a thing, my Grandpa. He watched as Jacob looked after Blake, but saw how he never aged. He noted that when Blake reached about sixteen, he suddenly grew. Didn't look sixteen anymore; he looked a lot older in fact, but like his father, he never appeared to age either after that. And then, the year before I was born, both Jacob and Blake disappeared. Blake must have been about eighteen at this point, and neither of them ever returned. But Grandpa was sure it had something to do with you, with your family, and he reopened your case. Since then, he's made sure we're all on the look out for you, in case you ever returned…"

I sat in silence, trying to digest it all. From what Dan had said, it was clear that Blake was now a werewolf. This meant there was still a chance that he'd be out there somewhere with Jacob. "Why did they leave?" I asked to myself, but appeared to have voiced it out loud.

"We don't know for sure, but there are theories…" I looked at him sharply, noting the change of tone in his voice. He looked more uncomfortable now than before, and I knew he too was hiding something.

"What kind of theories?"

"Bella… It's not my place to say this; nor is it really the time. I fear I've already said too much. The past is the past, and everything happens for a reason." Although vague, I knew that he wouldn't tell me. I sighed, and looked around. I was grateful towards his man, but I wished he would tell me everything. I started to ask about Charlie, when he interrupted me. "How are you even still alive, Bella?" I smiled sadly at the term 'alive', but gently shook my head.

"You've got your secrets you wish not to tell me, and I've got mine. I too have already said too much." If I was to tell him the vampire secret, I would be condemning him to death.

"But you've barely explained anything!" he argued, "I've given you so much knowledge about the past, but you won't even explain the one thing that wedged my family apart? That haunted my Grandpa until the day he died? The one thing that drove my grandpa literally insane?" He paused, taking a deep breath to calm himself down. "I'm sorry, I know it's not you fault that he became preoccupied with what happened to you, but you have to realise the effect it had on my family, and my way of life. And to find out that he wasn't really crazy… But to not understand what you are… I just…" Words failed him, tears started to fall down his face, and I cursed myself. There was nothing I could do; I couldn't tell him and make it better.

"I'm sorry, but I can't," was all I could come up with. "I should go. I need to think about everything you've told me, and there are some people I need to talk to." He nodded through the tears, and watched as I walked away. I walked into the car park and was glad to see that Edward's car was not there.

As I started the walk home, the realization really hit me. Although it was easy to accept that Blake was alive as it was something I had dreamed and hoped for throughout the past hundred years, it was not to easy to accept that Edward had lied to me about it. Anger flushed through me and I had no doubt to why Alice saw me leaving. I had put my trust in Edward, cried to him on the times I could not cope with Blake's death, and all the time, he knew he was alive. Every moment spent with him was tinted by lies, and I felt like a fraud.

It had started to rain, and I welcomed it. A human memory came back to me; sitting on the beach, crying in the rain, waiting for Jacob. Just before I went cliff diving. The rain then mingled with my tears, whereas the rain now acted as my tears. The raindrops shimmered with the colours of the rainbow, but I found no comfort in the colours. The greenery was too green, too close, and too daunting. The cars passing were too loud; the school children laughing were too happy. I moved through the rain slowly, feeling completely empty inside. The spark of hope Dan had given me had be extinguished. Blake may be alive, but I had no idea where he was or whether he'd want to see me. The moment Edward had lied to me he cut me away from that side of my family. And surely he would have realised that the moment I found out about that lie, I would cut myself off from his family. I was completely alone, with no family left. Or at least, I was about to go and say goodbye to the only family I had known for the past hundred years.

I continued the walk home slowly, not wanting to face them. I blocked everything I could, so that Alice wouldn't see me coming, Jasper couldn't feel my emotions, and they wouldn't be able to smell me either. The only hint they would know of my arrival would be the sound of my approach. I knew they'd all feel blind, and this would put them all on edge. None of them, except from what Alice may have already seen, would have any idea of what was coming. If Edward thought he had ever seen me angry before, he was mistaken.

All too quickly, the house came into view, and standing outside was Edward. He was worried, that much was clear on his face. I stopped to face him, and it reminded me of the reunion that was only last night. The emotions were different this time; last night, there was excitement in the air t see each other again, but today there was anger, confusion and tension. I continued to glare at Edward, trying to figure out why he would do this to me. I found nothing in his eyes apart from sadness and worry. He started to move forward towards, but a look that flashed across my eyes made him stop.

"Bella…" he whispered, uncertainty in his voice.

"Don't," I spoke clearly. Anger was starting to bubble over, and I could tell the confrontation was coming. "Don't you dare speak my name and don't you dare come anywhere near me again, Edward." I placed emphasis on the word 'dare' both times, and walked around him up to the house. He continued to stand there, head faced down, while I walked past him. Despite the anger inside me, I had a strange urge to reach out and comfort him. I almost did, until I remembered; Blake. There was a row of face just inside the doorway, looking at me. Esme looked heartbroken, so did Alice. Rose looked confused, and started towards me. I shook my head at her, silently begging her not to. All of these _monsters_ knew what had really happened, and they had all lied to me. Every last one of them. I let the betrayal show in my eyes, and I looked at each directly in the eye, letting them know that I knew. I had heard Edward's approach behind me, and he was standing, blocking the door. I had everyone's attention, so I decided to speak.

"I'm leaving." Esme started to sob into Carlisle's arms at my words, but I wouldn't let myself feel guilty.

"Please reconsider," Carlisle asked, trying to comfort Esme at the same time. I glared at him, and scoffed at his words.

"Won't you at least explain why, Bella?" Alice asked. She had seen this scene, but could she really not have guessed the reasoning behind it? I looked at her resentfully.

"Why? You mean you really have no idea?" She shook her head slowly, but the flash of acknowledgement in her eyes gave her away. "Right, of course," I said, laughing bitterly. "How about the fact you all lied to me for the past hundred years? That everything you've all ever done, or said, was a complete lie! Is that reason enough to leave? Or should I break it down even further? My _son_ is still out there, still alive, and I intend to find him!" I shouted the last part, watching as everyone averted eye contact with me.

"Don't take it out on them, Bella," a small voice said behind me. I turned quickly on Edward and unleashed the full extent of my anger out on him.

"No, I guess I shouldn't. I mean, it was probably all you're doing in the first place! Because that's all you do to me, isn't it Edward? Lie to me every day. I can't believe you! You saw how upset I was, you saw me break down and cry daily! There were times when I wanted it all to end, and you kept me strong, yet the whole time you knew he was still alive. I just…" Words failed me at this point, and I took a deep breath.

"You don't understand! It was the only thing I could do!"

"Stop lying, Edward! There was plenty you could do! You could have told me Blake survived, you could have supported me like you said you would, you could have accepted him rather than shunting him away like you did! What was it, you saw the first opportunity to get rid of him, get rid of the responsibility, and you took it? You're nothing more than a coward!" I was yelling again, but I didn't care.

"It wasn't like that!" I started to interrupt, but he spoke over me. "Bella, will you listen to me? Imagine the situation, will you? I deliver the baby, and Jacob sees that it's his. In order to save you, I have to turn you. Jacob's not about to give his baby, his newborn, defenseless human baby, back to a newborn, bloodthirsty vampire mother! If I had kept Blake away from Jacob, you would have killed him when you first woke up!"

"No, I wouldn't have!" I screamed back. His argument made sense, but it didn't justify what he had done. "I've never tasted human blood. And I would never have harmed my son. And even if that was why you did it, you could have told me afterwards!" Guilt overflowing him, he looked down at the floor.

"We weren't to know that you would have such control, Bella," Carlisle said from behind me. I ignored him.

"Please, don't go. We can make this right again," Edward said, looking at me in the eye.

"No, you can't. You can't ever make this right, Edward." I went to walk out of the door, but he blocked me. "Let me go."

"I can't watch you leave me. It would kill me."

"Let. Me. Go."

"No." I glared at him, and doing the only thing I could think of, I threw my whole shield away from me. Behind me, Jasper gasped and collapsed, getting the full range of my pain, anger and betrayal. Alice also gasped and was taken over by the various futures and plans that were running through my mind. Edward got the full range of emotions from Jasper, the various futures from Alice, and also my own thoughts. He, too, collapsed. _Just let me go,_ I thought, walking over him and running off into the distance. I heard the whole Cullen family call my name, but blocking myself off from them all again, I cut myself away from the Cullens. The past had a habit of chasing after me, but it was time for me to start chasing after my past.


	6. Rapture

**A/N: One of the things I like about reviews is that they give me ideas on things that I've missed out, or not explained. The first part of this chapter is actually due to thesharminator. Thank you for all the reviews, and I hope you enjoy this chapter. **

**I own nothing, sadly. Credit goes to Stephaine ^_^**

_Chapter Song – Rapture – Hurt_

_She swore she heard the voice of Jesus  
Telling her it was wrong to keep it  
And one more thing, it looked like me  
Back when it breathed  
Rest in peace  
Until the rapture comes to meet us_

Rapture

I didn't run; I walked. I didn't have a particular destination planned, but I didn't stop either. I was sure that none of the Cullen's would follow me, and so I had time to think things through. I didn't have any idea where Blake might be, so it seemed pointless to rush off until I had thought it all through. I stayed in Forks, but moved along the treaty line, pacing backwards and forwards. It seemed logical to start here as this was their home, or at least, it was. I had decided to wait until one of the wolves came and then try and speak to them, but whenever I saw them running patrol, they wouldn't talk. I'd call out to them, begging them to listen to me, but they'd always just look at me and then run off.

Getting frustrated, I went and hunted. I didn't need to hunt exactly, but it was methodical and reassuring. I brought down a bear with ease and savored the feeling of blood trickling down my throat. Once that was done, I sat down and thought about what I could do, given that none of the wolves seemed interested in talking to me. I thought back over the past hundred years and wondered to myself how the Cullen's had managed to keep Blake's survival from me. It's a long time to keep a secret like that, and there are a lot of them. However, the more I thought about it, the more I realised that there had been times where they'd mentioned him, but I just hadn't picked up on what they were saying. In fact, a lot of things over the past hundred years finally made sense looking at it from this perspective.

Edward had rarely left my side, especially when other family members were around. I never paid much attention to this because I enjoyed having Edward so close to me, but what if it was just because he didn't want them to let anything slip? There were times when he was around me that he'd shoot his family members random glances of anger that I never understood, but just put down to being something they were thinking about at the time; what if that something was Blake? The times when he'd been mentioned were always well covered up. Once, at Alice's and Jasper's renewal of vows, I mentioned that I wished Blake could know about this; about happiness and about love.

"I'm sure he does know by now, Bella," Rosalie said without thinking. Everyone stared at her, myself included. I didn't see the anger that would have been in Edward's eyes, but even if I had, I would have shrugged it off as being overprotective of me. Rose quickly recovered though. "I mean, that's what Heaven is, right? Love, peace and happiness," she said, not making eye contact with me. I didn't say anything to her for the rest of the day; I didn't say anything to anyone. That mention of Blake sent me into a downwards spiral and ruined Alice's day. Everyone learnt from that not to reply to any mention I made about him, or about my past life, but that wasn't the only time he was mentioned.

Edward and I had been out on a hunt when we came into hearing range of Carlisle and Esme. They were talking about Blake, and I froze. Edward went to speak, but I made a sign for him to be silent. He didn't look too happy about it, but did it anyway.

"… But it's not fair, Carlisle. What if Blake's not happy there?"

"Esme, the past is the past. Blake is happy, wherever he is. We all have to believe that for our own sakes."

"And what about Bella? I'm still worried about her, and this whole situation just isn't fair on her!" Esme sounded positively distraught by this point.

"C'mon, Bella, we should keep on moving," Edward said. I realise now that it was to stop the conversation going on between our parents, because they quickly stopped talking. Being in hearing range of them also meant that they could hear us. In a way, although I missed Blake daily, it was a pain that I was used to. So even when everything pointed to him being alive, I ignored it because it was different and something I couldn't deal with. And this was evidence: leant up against a tree, I finally broke down.

I couldn't cry, but it didn't stop me from trying. I let the depression wash over me, and I curled up as tightly as I could and dry sobbed. I thought about the past, and how different it could have been. I remembered all the lies Edward had ever told me, all the times he comforted me. I recalled the faces of my family every time I crumbled under the pressure and grief, and then their words to pick me back up; it was all lies. Uncurling myself and standing up, I let all the anger out too. I screamed until I ran out of air, I punched holes in the trees, I ripped branches off of the trees without holes, but the anger still boiled inside. Ripping the environment around me to pieces wasn't helping; it wasn't the one I wanted to rip apart. As much as I loved Edward, it was his face on the trees I was destroying. He destroyed my life, and damned me to an existence in hell. There was no escaping this. I couldn't sleep and feel release in dreams, I couldn't stop thinking, but I wouldn't stop feeling. The one thing I had in my power, the ability to stop myself feeling this, was the one thing I wouldn't do. To stop these emotions, to become an empty shell, would be to deny myself of the only thing that was real in my life. I became governed by them, releasing as much as I could, destroying everything around me. In the distance, I saw the eyes of a wolf watching my breakdown, and I just shrieked more in his direction. This carried on for an hour before anything changed.

I smelt him before I heard him. Turning in the direction he was coming in, I stopped screaming and started to look for him. I saw him in the distance, warily approaching me. I couldn't blame him for his wariness, my complete and utter breakdown had left me scared of myself, let alone what he would think. His face was contorted in pain when he saw the destruction around me. Trees were uprooted, and sewn across the forest. I had made a meadow for myself here, but it wasn't as beautiful as mine and his. In fact, this meadow was down right horrible. It said everything I couldn't. And I saw that in Edward's eyes when they finally locked onto mine. Although I was still angry, it had faded into the background, and sadness was the most present emotion.

"How could you?" I asked quietly, sitting down and wrapping my arms around my legs. It was a pose that came naturally, even though it had been years since I really felt like I had to do it. A distant memory of the time Edward left me was known in this pose. Keeping my eyes down, I heard him walk over and sit down next to me. Our bodies didn't touch, but the air was static with electricity. It was that moment that I knew, no matter how angry I was, no matter how long I'd stay angry, that I would forgive Edward. I didn't need Jasper's empathy powers to know what Edward was feeling. Entwined with the electricity was sadness and guilt. Like I was aware of Edward's inner emotions, I was sure he knew how I felt. Silence filled the air, intensifying until the point where I could no longer stand it. "Say something," I begged. He sighed.

"I don't know what to say to you, Bella. I messed up, and I've ruined everything. I can see it here, now, how much I've ruined your life. This carnage is just an expression of your inner rage, just an outlet. Alice found you first, and I saw in her mind just how bad this was. I saw the look in your eyes. It was the look of a woman who had lost everything, but could not lose her life. I caused that, and I don't know how to make it any better."

"Like I said, you can't make it better Edward. And I don't forgive you, not yet. You lied to me for so long, it makes me wonder what else you lied about." There was a pause, and I asked one of the most important questions running in my head. "Did you ever love me? Or was that a lie too?" He looked at me strangely and then stood up suddenly.

"There's something I want to show you," he said, extending his hand to help me up. Ignoring the gesture, I stood up and followed him into the woods. We ran, but slowly, not fully embracing the speed. The adrenaline that rushed when we ran was something we both enjoyed, but it was clear that this was not a moment that either of us should have any ounce of happiness in. Indeed, I questioned whether I could ever truly be happy again, even if I ever got Blake back in my life. Forgiving Edward wasn't going to be the hard part; it would be trusting him again. So even if I was to forgive him now, I didn't know if I could go back to the lifestyle we had before because of the lack of trust. I sighed, and regretted the decision to ever come back to Forks. I never dreamt that it was be this much history waiting for me deep in the forests.

Up ahead, Edward stopped and waited for me to catch up. I looked at him curiously, trying to figure out what it was he was going to show me. He beckoned me forward, took my hand and walked me forwards. Taking in a deep, quick breath, I recognised the view in front of me. Perfectly symmetrical, and with wild flowers still in bloom, Edward had taken me into our meadow. I turned to face him, trying to hide my surprise.

"Why did you bring me here?"

"You asked me if I ever really loved you. It was here, in this meadow, a hundred years ago, that I realised that I did. It was here where I risked everything to see if I could really be with you. It was here we shared our first kiss. It was here that everything in my life changed, Bella, because of you. You should know that, despite everything I've put you through, I do love you. And I always will, even if you don't feel the same."

"It's not that simple anymore Edward…" I started, but couldn't find the words to explain. It was strange to go back only twenty four hours, where everything was perfect. I was happy with Edward, with a new part of my life ahead of me. If it had been anywhere but Forks, none of this would have happened. However, I argued with myself, if I hadn't come back here, I would never have found out that Blake was alive. I sighed, and sat down again. "What if when I find him, he wants nothing to do with me? What if he hates me? What if Jacob hates me? How am I meant to cope with that?" I said, looking at Edward straight in the eye.

"Jacob would have no reason to hate you, love. You produce him a son and he got to be part of his life. Jacob probably hates me, and that's it. And I can't see him turning Blake against you, so I don't see why he'd hate you, either."

"Because I'm a vampire, and werewolves are meant to hate us! Just like I'm meant to hate them…" The painful truth was that I didn't. I felt nothing towards the werewolves, no innate hatred, just a dislike to their smell. Apart from I craved part of the smell, because of the woody smell underneath the stench, a mere undertone of fragrance, which reminded me of Jacob. It was strange how I could already smell it, as if my mind was showing me what I desired. But that's when I heard the deep throaty growl coming from the other side of the meadow.

Looking up, I saw a huge brown furred werewolf crouched down, growling violently at Edward and me. I quickly rose and stood behind Edward, and he took my hand protectively, letting me know that he'd be there to protect me. Technically we were still on Cullen land, so this werewolf had broken the treaty. I couldn't understand the logic to why he would do such a thing, especially after spending all morning watching me breakdown, so I threw off my shield to Edward. _What's going on? What's he doing? _I asked Edward mentally. He just shook his head.

"I can't read his mind."


	7. Hope

**A/N: Again, I'm sorry updates aren't all that regular. I've been away for the past week, and have every intention of writing loads. Sadly, it didn't go to plan, and I only got a chapter done. However! I've got the rest all planned out, so it's just matter of writing them all out. I hope you enjoy. I own nothing apart from Blake ^_^ **

_Chapter Song – Say Goodbye – Skillet_

_And if it's over,_

_It hurts but I'm giving my word._

_I hope that you're always happy like we were. _

Hope

In front of us stood a humungous brown wolf, crouched and growling menacingly towards Edward and me. Edward mirrored his position, taking a protective stance, shielding me from the wolf. Around us, the howl of wolves echoed up into the air. I ached to ask Edward what was going on, why he couldn't read the mind of the wolf in front of us, and what we were going to do. Before I got a chance to ask any of the questions floating in my head, there came another howl, closer than before. The wolf in front of us looked sharply to the left, and stopped growling at us, but glared in the direction of the offending wolf. Without warning, there was a yelp from the brown furred wolf, and he turned and ran off in the opposite direction. I took my first breath since the burning smell had hit my nose.

"What just happened, Edward? Why couldn't you read his mind? What was he doing on Cullen land anyway?" I asked, but Edward had no answers and just shook his head. He still looked on edge, and kept glancing to the area where the second howl had come from.

"We should go home," Edward said, turning and attempting to pull me in the direction of the Cullen house.

"I can't go home with you, you know that."

"Bella, please, be sensible. I can't leave you here, it's not safe!"

"Why not? You left her here before, didn't you, bloodsucker?" I froze as a new voice reached my ears. Although it was not a voice that I had heard in over 100 years, it was one that I instantly recognised. Slowly turning around, I let my eyes settle on Jacob Black.

He was breathtaking still. He had let his hair grow again, coming down to shoulder length. He was only wearing cut off jeans, and his chest was still muscled. His eyes connected with mine, and I felt weak at the feelings behind them. They bore into me with an intensity I wasn't used to, looking at me as if he'd never seen me before. There was silence, and his eyes slowly left me and landed on Edward. A sneer passed over his face.

"Looks like she's finally coming to her senses by not wanting to go home with you. It's about time, if you ask me."

"No one did ask you, _dog_," Edward sneered back. Time had not managed to change anything between the three of us. We all still looked the same, and by the tension between Edward and Jacob, they still felt the same for each other. I still hadn't managed to break my gaze away from Jacob, and when he turned to face me, I lost all self control. Rushing at vampire speed, I threw myself around him, hugging him and holding him tightly. His russet skin burned me, and I was sure that I would be freezing him. But until he told me to stop, I wouldn't, because nothing was better than this. He didn't tell me to stop, either, but rather, he placed his arms around me too, and held me closer to him. I managed to keep some composure, until Jacob spoke once more.

"I missed you so much Bella," he whispered huskily into my ear. After everything that had happened within the past twenty four hours in Forks, this was the best thing I had heard. It had been an emotional rollercoaster, and I was determined to get off. I broke down once more in Jacob's arms, and it was just like nothing had changed. He held me closer, stroking my hair, and whispering reassurances to me.

"I missed you too, Jake, more than you'll ever know," I spluttered between dry sobs. I could hear Edward just behind me, shuffling his feet, most probably feeling uncomfortable, but I didn't care. Jake still had his arms around me, gently rubbing my back to calm me down. Taking a deep breath, I took in the smell of him. Deep underneath the initial repulsive smell was his smell that I loved so much previously. The smell calmed a part of me that had been raging for the past hundred years – the part that was angry for hurting and then leaving Jacob.

"Bella..." I heard Edward mumble behind me. There was a longing and a deep rooted pain in his voice. Clearly this was the moment he had been dreading since coming back to Forks; the chance that I would find out about Blake, meet Jacob and run off with him and chase that part of my life. I turned to face him, keeping Jake's arm around me.

"Edward," I replied sharply. "I've not forgiven you for what you've done. So I wish for you to leave, and wait for me at the house. I don't know when I'll return though." The moon broke through the clouds, and gave Edward a mysterious glow. He looked up, and the moonlight hit his eyes, highlighting the subtle green in the background. Everything in his eyes screamed he was sorry, and that he was in grave pain.

"I understand your anger, Bella, but you have to understand something else: he lied to you too." With that, he turned and ran off into the forest towards his home. His leaving statement certainly left me with some things to ponder, but as I turned to look at Jacob again, a huge smile crept across my face. Happiness swelled inside of me as the part of my life I thought I had lost rushed towards me and held me tightly to him.

"I'm sorry," I whispered quietly in Jake's ear. "I'm sorry for everything I put you through all those years ago, I'm sorry I lied, I'm sorry I hurt you, I'm sorry..."

"Shh," Jake said, cutting me off. "You don't need to apologise Bella. I know you're sorry and you should know that I forgive you. I forgave you many years ago when I realised that you never... That he was..." Jake stopped, and sighed. "If anything Bella, I should be apologising to you. Judging by _his_ leaving statement, I'm guessing that you've had an argument over Blake... I just want you to know that I apologise for convincing him to let me take Blake away from you."

"I know, Jacob, and its fine, honestly. You did it out of love for both me and your son. You were thinking of everyone's safety. And it's not like you kept it from me for the past hundred years, like the Cullen's did. I'm sure if we had managed to keep contact, you would have told me before now," I said, looking at his face. He looked shocked, and slightly disgusted. "Jake, what it is?"

"You've only just found out?"

"Yeah, I was speaking to a teacher at school, Dan Newton, and he said about it. It's a long story, but he's Mike Newton's grandchild, and somehow, he knew everything. Well, almost everything, minus the vampires and werewolf side of things."

"I can't believe it," Jake raged. His whole body was shaking beneath my grip, and although I wasn't the fragile human I was before, I still knew it would be stupid to stay so close to him when he was so close to phasing. "They never told you? You found out by _someone else_?!" I nodded meekly, trying to escape. He loosened his grip, and I quickly withdrew.

"Calm down, please," I begged. He started to take deep breaths, and closed his eyes. The shaking slowed, and finally stopped.

"I never expected it to be like that. I... I thought he'd tell you, thought he'd explain. And then, I expected you to come back once you'd gained control, and then have some part in his life. When you never tried to find us, and when Blake started to ask questions about you, I had to... I had to explain your disappearance somehow." He shook his head slowly, and a tear fell down his face. I was completely confused by his sadness. "I thought you didn't love him, Bella. I thought he was just a part of your old life that you didn't want to know, like me. So I told him that you had died. I told him that vampires had robbed you of your life, and that was why you never came back. Of course, I only told him that once he had phased for the first time, but that was it. He found out about that, and he was determined to avenge it. Hunted every vampire he could find, but he never found the ones that hurt you. I tried to keep him calm, but..."

"That was him, wasn't it? Before, in the clearing?"

"Yes." I had been so close to him, and I didn't even realise it. "He believes the treaty was void the day you died. When he had heard that you had returned, he came to destroy them. He blames the Cullen's for everything that's ever happened to him, and his rage is uncontrollable. Being Alpha still, I managed to stop him attacking you, but I don't know what to do now..." I sighed, realising that my son did hate me. I couldn't hold it against Jacob; he did what he thought was right. He never realised that I spent every day of the past hundred years grieving over the loss of my son, that I loved them both more than he could imagine, and that at times, there was nothing I wanted more than to be back in Forks and to be human with them.

"I want to meet him," was all I could say. Fear covered Jacob's face at the prospect of that, but he nodded anyway.

"I need to explain this all to him anyway, so I guess there's no harm. We'll have to go to La Push though."

"Okay. But, Jacob, how did you manage to keep it from him? Surely when you were both in wolf form, he would have seen what really happened in your thoughts..." A grim smile covered Jacob's face.

"I would have thought so too. But, like mother like son, Blake has a gift, I guess you can call it. I'm guessing Edward wouldn't have been able to read Blake's mind?" I nodded my head. "Yeah, that doesn't surprise me. Of course, the good part about that is that the whole pack can't have their minds read when Blake is in wolf form. However, this also means when we're in wolf form, we can't read each others mind, unless Blake lets them in. It took a while for him to master, but he managed to lift his shield, as we called it, off us so we could all listen to each other when we needed to coordinate, or to check in, like he was doing today. But it means that, as I asked for privacy, Blake never got into my head. It was a good thing really, but really makes coordination or getting in contact with the pack when we're away, or visa versa, a lot harder."

"How did you manage that?" I felt guilty at the extremes the pack had to go to because of my brain being all messed up.

"To begin with, it was hard, especially as Blake wanted to go further afield to hunt for vampires. Every week, we'd check in and make sure everything was okay at home, and if it wasn't, we'd go back home. However, sometimes we just weren't fast enough, and it really did become an issue. So, me and Blake broke off, made a pack of our own and went off on our own. Because we were always together, the whole mind block wasn't an issue. I could still talk to the Alpha in La Push, and so I'd check in every now and then, and tell Blake what was happening."

"Why'd you tell him about the Cullen's being back?" I asked, confused. Jacob frowned uncharacteristically.

"I didn't. What I didn't know what that Blake was keeping in contact with Quil, his son, and because they had the same mental block, they could communicate without anyone knowing. He told Blake the Cullen's were back, and Blake charged back here and well... you saw the result." Shock passed through me.

"I'm a grandmother?"

"Yes," Jacob said, smiling. "Blake fell in love with a human girl from school, and she was pregnant by the age of eighteen. He wanted to support her and the baby, but she said that she didn't want it. He talked her round to keeping it full term, and then he'd take care of the baby. That's what they did, and Quil had a brilliant up bringing. Doted on by everyone, Blake especially. Quil imprinted when he was older, and now he's married and his wife, Aimee, is expecting twins in two months. They're all very happy." I smiled, happy at the way my family was growing.

"All seems quite complicated," I joked, and Jacob laughed.

"Indeed it is, but it started complicated so it makes sense that'll end complicated," he replied with a small smile. "I'll be right back, I guess I need to call Blake and make him listen to what I have to say." Jacob rushed off into the bushes, and I could hear a howl filling the air. While I was alone, I stopped to think about everything. When Blake came, and if I was to sort everything out with him, then everything would be perfect. I wasn't angry anymore, not when I had everything I wanted in my reach. I was sure that I could convince Blake not to hate me, so I knew that there would be a time where I was happy again. For the first time since coming back to Forks, hope filled me. After a while, Jacob came back, smiling.

"Your presence in La Push has been confirmed by the other Alpha, and Blake is on his way there. I told him that I had something I needed to explain to him, and it's something he needed to hear. He'll probably be on his guard, but hopefully he'll listen." I nodded, slowly. "But Bella," Jake continued slowly. "There's something else you need to know before you meet Blake."

"Go on..." I said, fear griping me. His tone of voice made it clear that it wouldn't be good news.

"Blake has more than your death as a reason to be angry with vampires for. There was a group of vampires that came back to Forks, different to the Cullen's, looking for you. They're what changed Blake into a werewolf. We managed to get one of them, but the others escaped before we could."

"So Blake hates them for changing him?"

"No, Blake hates them because they took his best friend. The person that Blake relied on the most, the person who taught Blake all the little things he enjoyed. They came late at night, and we weren't expecting them. I'm sorry Bella... They took Charlie."


	8. Paths

**A/N: I'm really sorry about the delay. I've had no internet, and still don't have it. I'm at my parents at the moment, so just managed to upload this. Hopefully updates won't be so far apart, and I hope you enjoy it. **

_Chapter Song – So Long Ago – Dry Cell_

_That was so long ago,_

_You assume that I've forgotten,_

_But how can I ever forget you?_

_I know I'm having trouble letting go_

'_Though it was so long ago._

Paths

"They... what?!" I stammered. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. After every precaution I did to keep this secret, this life, away from Charlie, it still caught up with him. Guilt washed over me: I never should have left. It was bad enough to think of the grief I put Charlie through when I 'died', but to think about that happening to him... "What exactly happened, Jacob?"

"We don't know for sure. Like I said, there was a group of them. They were all well trained, and some of them seemed to have extra abilities." Jake shuddered at an unknown memory to me. "By the time we all managed to get there and coordinated – we had only just found out about Blake's mental block, and he hadn't learnt to control it, so we had to convince him to stay in human form, which isn't easily done – Charlie was gone. We faced a few of them when they were leaving, and killed one. But the rest left and we tried to follow, but they had a private jet and there's only so much we can do when they fly to someplace unknown. I'm sorry Bella, I really am. Afterward, Blake and I tried to figure out who they were, where they went, but the trail went cold."

"Charlie," I whispered sadly. "I never should have left. I never should have chosen this life," I sobbed.

"Bella, answer me this, honestly: Were you happy?" I thought this through, and after finding out about Charlie, felt guilty about the answer.

"I was, more than you could know. Every day I grieved over Blake, but in general, life was exactly how I wanted it. I had Edward, I had ever material item I could ever want, and the loss of Blake was easing, at least, to the point where I could get out of bed. I missed you, and Blake, and Charlie, and Renée like hell, but after a hundred years, I'd believed that everything had played out, their fate been and gone..." I was rambling, trying to justify it to myself.

"Then don't feel guilty, Bells. Charlie would have done anything for you to be happy; it was all he wanted for you." Jacob brought me into a hug, and then took my hand. "C'mon, don't you want to meet your son?"

***

La Push looked the same as I remembered. I had to admit that my human memories had faded significantly, but La Push was what I pictured it to be. Jacob still lived in the little red house by the beach, and standing outside was a figure I recognised. It was raining, but it didn't stop them standing there half naked, hair cropped and arms crossed.

"Is that Seth Clearwater?" I asked, shocked. A smile broke out on Jake's face, and he nodded.

"He's the only one left from the pack that you knew. He's Alpha now for the other pack. He adores it, I swear, it's like a power complex," he said with a chuckle. "C'mon, time to go in." Stepping out of the car, I stood in the rain and look at the house. I wondered how many wolves were in there, and how they'd react to me. I was slightly concerned about my safety, but before I could voice any of my worries, Jake took my hand and led me indoors. Taking a deep breath, I was overcome by the stench of wolf. Crinkling my nose, I walked in and looked around at the welcome committee. I took in the faces of everyone standing in front of me. A common feature, apart from the russet coloured skin, was the look of distaste on their faces. I felt uncomfortable under the looks, and felt my eyes fall to the floor. Jacob must've noticed the looks, as beside me was a human equivalent to a growl.

"Everyone, this is Bella," Seth said, trying to break the silence. "She is here on my approval, even though she is a Cullen." There was a deeper growl coming from someone in the crowd in front of me, but by the time I had looked up to find out who, it had stopped. "She's to be treated like any other person in La Push while she's here, understood?" There was a murmur of agreement. "Okay, everyone, get back to their daily routines and everything. Blake, you're needed here." Everyone filed out of the small house and just left me, Jacob and a tall man, with a rounded face. As I looked in the eyes of my son for the first time, everything around me stopped.

He was beautiful. He had Jacob's face, with long dark brown hair that fell loosely around his face, just like Jake's. He was tall, well muscled, and he held himself with confidence. He had my eyes, however, dark chocolate eyes which were easy to read. As much as he posed himself to suggest that he wasn't bothered by anything, his eyes told a different story. He looked at me with anger and hatred, but also a confusion and betrayal for why Jacob was holding my hand. I couldn't blame him; he lost his grandfather, and grew to believe his mother, to vampires, and his father walks in holding hands with one? It was enough to upset anyone.

"Blake," Jacob started, but he was cut off.

"What do you think you're doing, dad? I thought you'd hate them as much as me. But look at you! You're holding hands with one, like you're old friends!" There was anger in his voice, and I hoped again that Jacob could calm him down and make him listen.

"There's something you should know, Blake. Or more, there's someone you should know," he said, gesturing towards me. Blake looked at me with confusion in his eyes, and then back to Jacob for an explanation.

"I should know a leech?" The words stung to hear, but I wasn't going to let them affect me. I continued to watch Blake's reaction, and beneath the confusion there was anger, and a lot of it.

"Blake, I lied to you. All those years ago, when you started to ask about your mother, I lied. A vampire didn't kill her." Blake's eyes turned back to me during Jacob's explanation with a different glint. He was still confused, but there was something more in there. Part of it looked like hope, but also denial. I could see that he hoped his mother was still alive, but wasn't a vampire. This was going to disappoint him. "When your mom found out she was pregnant, she told me I wasn't the father, for reasons I still don't know. She claimed that Edward Cullen, her ex-boyfriend who had just come back to town, was. I was heartbroken, and I left. It was a bad few months for me, but I still felt the need to protect her. I was tracking one of the vampires that desired to kill her, and when the trail led back here, I came back. I let her know about the impending fate, and told her to stay safe. Sadly, Bella has no concern for her own safety sometimes, and she snuck out to come see me." Blake's emotions changed at the name of Bella, realising where this was going. He was frowning in concentration, having to come to terms with the truth. I knew how he felt.

"Victoria caught up with her, and it ended up with the Cullen's and the pack working together. Victoria didn't have a chance, and Bella wasn't badly hurt, just shaken I think. She wanted to talk, and I begged her to come back. I still didn't know the baby was mine, but if the Cullen's would look after it, I would be allowed love her again. She said she wouldn't give up her child, and so I left. Before I got out of hearing range, I heard her ask... to be one of them after you were born." Pain was in Jacob's voice now, and guilt washed over me as I realised how much I hurt him. "I went back, so full of anger at the thought that Bella, my Bella, would be one of them... I attacked Edward, and I went in for the kill when Bella stepped in front of him...

"My claws went deep into her, and she lost too much blood to survive, as a human. We took you out and I saw that you were mine. Edward asked permission to change her, so she could live on, and I granted it. I told Edward that Bella wasn't to know about you, because she would be a newborn vampire, and you would be a newborn human baby, and the bloodlust... They told her you died, and she's spent every moment mourning you afterwards. I always thought they'd tell her the truth, and she'd come back to see you, and when they didn't, I had to think of something, some reason why your mother didn't come back. I didn't want you believing that she never loved you. I'm so sorry, son."

Silence filled the air, and Blake continued to look at me. He said nothing, just sat down on a chair. I wanted to know what he was thinking, whether this would work out, but I just had to watch it all play out. Briefly, he closed his eyes and looked down at the floor. I turned to look at Jacob, and he looked as worried as I felt. I turned back, and saw Blake's eyes on me again.

"Mom?" he asked quietly. I nodded, feeling unsure. "Mom," he repeated, without the uncertainty in his voice. "I have your eyes."

"You're beautiful," I choked out, my voice thick with emotion. I could smell the blood as it rushed to his face, but it posed no issue to me. There was no burn in the back of my throat at the sudden rush as smell, no desire to attack, just happiness to see a trait of mine in him. I wanted to go and hold him close to me, but I knew it was too early.

"Is it true? That you never knew, and that's why you never came back, never had any part of my life?"

"Of course, Blake. I've missed you every moment of every day. Life was haunting and unbearable without you. The moment I found out that you were still alive, I was determined to find you. I had to see you, see how you turned out, if you were happy..." I trailed off as the years of daydreams came back to me. I used to lie in an apathetic sleep-like state, daydreaming about how Blake would have been. Thinking about how his life might have been if he had survived; whether he got on with Edward, was still in contact with Jacob, if he imprinted...

"So, Edward Cullen saved you?" There was an incredulous tone to his voice now. I nodded, hoping that he'd forgive the Cullen's for everything he ever blamed them for. Silence filled the room while Blake tried to get his head around that fact. I glanced towards Jacob, and I could tell that he believed that there could be a happy ending at the end of this. The hope on his face gave me hope also. He caught my eye and smiled slightly, before turning to look back at our son. I followed his gaze, and saw that Blake was looking at Jacob. "I forgive you, Dad. I understand why you did what you did, and although I wish you hadn't, I forgive you."

"Thank you," Jacob said, pulling him into a hug. I felt a sudden surge of jealousy, because I was so unsure to when I might be able to hug Blake in the same way. That's when he turned to look at me, with a peculiar look in his eye. He looked unsure but determined.

"Mom," he whispered, and took a step towards me. Anticipation flowed through me, mingled in with hope. He reached out and gently took my hand. The difference in skin temperatures took me by surprise again, and I had to fight against the instinct to pull away. "I've missed having a mother figure in my life, and I want to welcome you, but I'm not sure I can." He dropped his gaze, but continued to hold my hand.

"I understand. I just hope that you can find in your heart a place for me one day," I said, trying to be as understanding as possible. I kept a level voice, even though inside, I was screaming. This wasn't the way it was meant to go.

"It's not that I can't love you, it's just..." He turned to look at me directly in the eye before continuing. He was searching for something, but I was unsure to what and if he found it. "I can't overlook the fact you're a vampire. I can't forgive your kind to what they did to Grandpa. I just can't get passed that anger..." His face pulled together into a frown. With his free hand, he rubbed his temples and pushed his hair back. "I'm sorry, I really am." He let my hand go, and I sighed.

"I don't blame you for feeling like that. The hatred is too innate to both of us and added to what happened to Charlie..." I sighed again, trying not to think about what exactly might have happened to Charlie. "If I could find out whom it was who did it, I would make them pay," I growled. A small smile crept across Blake's face.

"Now I know where I get my determination from... If you happened to know a couple of vampires, one with dark hair, one with white, let me know." There was sarcasm in his voice, but something struck me.

"Jacob," I started, turning to him. "Tell me what they looked like, exactly."

"There were two main ones that the rest protected. They looked old, fragile almost. Like Blake said, one with white hair, one with black. They were protected by a group of roughly five other leeches. Two were childlike, but they had terrifying gifts. They were able to incapacitate us easily. One caused pain like which I've never felt since, and after we had taken down one of them, the other small bloodsucker somehow blinded us. We could see, couldn't smell, nothing. If it wasn't for the fact that there was a wolf in La Push that was able to guide us home, they probably would have killed us..."

I sat in silence, digesting what Jake had said. I had spent many hours talking with Carlisle about his past, and studying the pictures in his study. The two elderly, fragile-looking vampires reminded me of a picture in Carlisle's study. The only different was that there were three vampires in the picture, four if Carlisle was included. But the description fitted perfectly, especially when adding in the guards. Comprehension slowly dawned on me, and both Jacob and Blake noticed.

"You know who it is," Blake accused, very much in the same tone that Edward accused me of knowing why I left. I shook my head.

"I know who it might be, but I don't know for certain..." I trailed off, and then reached for my phone. I called Edward, and he picked up after the first ring, but I didn't give him time to talk. "Edward, listen to me. I think I know who might've taken Charlie. I'm going to bring Jacob and Blake back home. Prepare everyone." I hung up before he could disagree, and turned to look at the people I once thought I'd lost. They both looked confused and wary.

"Edward will be able to get into Jacob's mind, and if Jake remembers who they were, it might be possible to ID the vampires."

"You want us to go up _there_?" Blake exclaimed. His face was easy to read, like an open book, and I smiled inwardly to see another trait of mine in him. He was upset, angry and scared. I guessed it was because he wasn't sure if his patience was enough to tolerate being in the room full of vampires. I could sympathise with him, but it wasn't going to stop me from doing it. Once we had avenged Charlie's death, he'd forgive me, and maybe we'd be able to get back on track, being mother and son.

"You can stay here, if you'd prefer..." Jacob started, but with one glance from my eyes, he stopped.

"It's not that I want to take away your free choice, Blake, it's just I can't bear to be away from you after just finding out that you are alive," I admitted sadly. It was strange how I felt pulled towards him, and how he took up most of my thoughts. I was used to the sensation with Edward, but not with someone new. I continued to look at him, taking in every aspect of his face, his body, and was stunned in awe by what personality could be behind it.

"I'll go, but only if I can go in wolf form..." Blake put forward, trying to find a compromise. I nodded, feeling okay with this.

"I'll go in human form. That way, Edward can still get the images from my mind. Blake, when you phase, call Quil in and keep in contact with the other pack. If anything was to happen, not that it will, I want to the other pack to be near by." I saw Blake nod and then he ran off to phase.

Smiling slightly at Jacob, I offered my hand. "Do you really think things will get that bad up there?" I joked, trying to keep the hurt out of my voice. It was only then that I realised that my family and I were actually a threat to Blake, and that was why Jacob was taking extra precaution. Neither family were monsters, but I couldn't get the other to see that.

"I just want to be ready, for any eventuality. I reckon that Edward will ID the leeches, and tell us, leading Blake to go off and try to hunt them down himself. With the connection between Quil already there, the other pack will see, and they'll stop him. It's not that I don't trust you, or the Cullen's, I just want to protect my son." There was a howl in the distance, supporting what Jacob had said about Blake having the connection with Quil. It made sense, and I felt more at ease.

"You ready to roll?" I asked, heading towards the door. Jacob took my hand, and we started to run. Jacob could run fast, but not as fast as me, not in wolf form anyway. I kept my pace to match his, although it felt strange to have to slow down. I was tempted to stop and ask him if he wanted a ride, but I thought it could be too intimate for both of us, so I didn't. Blake was matching the pace with ease, drifting in and out of the trees.

Soon, the house was in view. Edward was standing outside, looking worried. He saw me, holding hands with Jacob, and the worry soon turned to pain. Quickly, I removed my hand and sped up toward him. There was something I had to let him know. I didn't pause in front of him, but rather, launched myself at him and threw my arms around him.

"I forgive you," I whispered into his ear. Electric sparked through my body where my skin touched his, and I fought the desire to nibble on his ear. His arms wrapped tightly around mine, holding me closer to him. "And Edward, I love you. More than anything. I promise to never leave you."

"I love you, too, love, but we've got company," he chuckled, untangling me from him. Smiling, I let myself down from him, and stood up to face Jacob and the wolf that was my son. "Jacob," Edward said curtly, nodding his head once in his direction. Jacob continued to glare. "Who's the wolf?" he asked, although I was sure he had worked it out.

"Edward, meet Blake, my son." I smiled with pride as I saw Blake nod once to Edward in a way of friendly introduction.

"You found him?"

"Yeah, but I also found out some bad news..." I trailed off, unsure of how to say it.

"A group of _bloodsuckers_ took Charlie," Jacob said, his voice hostile. He wasn't happy here, I could tell. I tried to plead to him with my eyes, but I didn't think he noticed. "It was years after you left, but they came for him. Bella hoped you'd be able to tell me who they are."

I watched as Edward concentrated on the images in Jacob's mind. Horror plastered his face for a second, before the calm mask came back. The disgust was still there in his eyes though.

"We need to talk to Carlisle. Now. Are you two okay coming indoors?" They both nodded and we headed in. Carlisle had heard the conversation outside, and was waiting patiently in the dining room.

"What is it, Edward?" he asked, concerned. He display no aversion to the two werewolves accompanying us.

"Vampires took Charlie."

"Yes, I heard that part of the conversation between you four," he said, almost apologetically. "Do you know who?"

"The Volturi." His voice was solemn, but despair grasped me.

"No!" I screamed. "They had no reason to! Why would they?" Edward had told me all about the Volturi, about how they were supposedly the rulers of the vampires, almost like royalty. If there was any vampire who was breaking the main rule – keep the secret – they'd intervene. Edward shook his head.

"I don't know, Bella. I can only tell you who the vampires were that Jacob saw."

"Where can I find them?" Jacob asked. His eyes were determined, and looking down at Blake, I could see why. My reaction, my despair, had scared him. He was cowering on the floor, with a tear rolling away from his eye.

"Italy, but I wouldn't suggest you go up against them."

"Give me one good reason not too, bloodsucker."

"It's a suicide mission, Jacob," Carlisle intervened, trying to keep the peace. "The Volturi are well guarded, and you would not be able to get anywhere near them."

"What do you suggest then?" he shouted back, losing his temper. He was shaking, and was close to phasing.

"There's nothing you can do," Edward said. Blake started growling at that, clearly saying that wasn't an option. I was inclined to agree with them.

"We have to do something. If we die, we die. A hundred years is a long enough life, right son?" Blake nodded enthusiastically. Jacob turned to look at me. "We'll be back in La Push, getting ready. You're welcome to come, maybe you'd help. You must want some form of revenge against the murderers that killed your father." He gave me one last look in the eye, and then phased. Clothes went flying everywhere, and I watched as both of them ran off into the distance. Turning to face Edward, I saw fear in his eyes again.

"Don't, Bella. Don't go, the past is the past, and it's not worth risking your life for. Stay here with me, and stay alive."

I turned away, confused. Two paths were laid out in front of me; one kept me safe and alive in the arms of the one I loved, but the other sought revenge for my father. A suicide mission, Edward had called it. I loved my father greatly, but Edward was right: the past is the past, and there is nothing I could do to change it. So I had to decide; was it worth dying for?


	9. Natural Regret

**A/N: This is a nice short chapter, and for that I'm sorry. It doesn't really move the story along either, but its necessary. Just as a question out of wonder, the chapter songs, does anyone read them? Cuz if not, I'll stop finding new songs XD **

_Chapter Song – Savin' Me - Nickelback_

_Heaven's gates won't open up for me,_

_With these broken wings I'm falling_

_And all I see is you._

_Come please, I'm calling. _

Natural Regret

"Are you sure this is what you want to do?" Edward asked for the fifth time since telling him what I decided would be the best course of action.

"Edward, I have to," I replied, in a matter-of-fact tone. "Charlie was my father. I need to at least find out what happened to him, even if I can't help avenge it. There is no other choice."

Edward sighed, and turned to look out of the window. I knew he was unhappy with my decision, and I partly agreed with him. Going to the Volturi was a suicide mission, but I couldn't allow my son to go alone. I had a better chance of getting in to seeing the vampires and finding out what happened. Jacob was waiting for me in La Push, while Edward was still trying to talk me out of it. All the while, I was packing up clothes for an undecided amount of time. I heard Edward sigh again, and felt his approach. I paused while he wrapped his arms around my waist, and inhaled his scent deeply, unsure if I was going to smell it after this. Realising that this could potentially be the final goodbye between us broke my heart.

"Bella," Edward said softly. There was a deep sadness in his voice, mixed with a longing. "I don't want this to be goodbye. Please, just reconsider this." Agony ripped through me, but I shook my head anyway. His arms wrapped tighter around me as his lips found my neck. "Is there nothing I can do to make you reconsider?"

"I'm sorry Edward..." He sighed, but abruptly pulled away from me, and started to move around the room with speed. "What are you doing?"

"I love you, you know this. So do you really think that I would let you go on a suicide mission like this alone?"

"Well, yes. This isn't your fight, Edward."

"Your pain is my pain. Bella, I've told you time and time again that you mean everything to me, and I cannot live without you. And I mean it. I'm coming with you. You better call Jacob and make him book another ticket for the plane." He paused, as a strange, pained look came across his face. He groaned. "Better make that another that another seven tickets," he added bitterly.

"Erm, what?" I asked, confused. He was spared from answering as Alice walked through the door.

"I saw what you were planning, and it didn't end well. We're all going, the whole family. Aro has respect and friendship for Carlisle, and would never harm him for little reason. We can resolve this peacefully this way," Alice explained, while Edward continued to pack. Seething, I could find no argument in her logic. I picked up the phone and called Jacob.

"Hey, Jake, it's me. Listen, have you booked the plane tickets yet?" I asked, without giving him to talk.

"Was just about to, why? Are you no longer coming?"

"No, it's not that. We've got extra company." There was silence on the other end of the phone, and I could tell that Jacob was as unhappy with this plan as I was. "I know its unfortunate Jacob, but it's safer in the long run. Alice foresaw my own death if I went alone."

"Is it just Alice coming? Because I'm not sure how Blake will cope being in such close contact with more vampires..."

"They're all coming, Jake. I'm sorry." There was a low growl coming from the other side of the phone.

"Fine," he said, anger lavishing his voice. "If that's what the fortunetelling bloodsucker thinks is best... But if she can see what's going to happen in Italy, why can't she just tell us what those royal leeches of yours are going to say and save us the pretences?" Knowing Alice could hear the conversation, I turned to look at her, seeing if she had an answer.

"Because the werewolves are blocking my vision. The only reason that I knew something happened to you and Edward was because no matter how far in the future I looked, there was no future for you both."

"Did you hear that, Jacob?"

"Yeah," he sighed. "This whole blocking the future thing is a nuisance when it's not protecting us from them. Fine, I'll tell Blake to man up and deal with it. It'll be fine. How long will it take you to all get ready?"

"Not long at all. I think we're all nearly ready anyway. Just get us on the next plane you possibly can."

"Does anyone need to hunt?" I looked around, and saw Edward and Alice shake their heads.

"Give me a second, let Alice go and ask the others." Alice rushed off, and was back within the minute. Emmett and Rose felt like they should hunt, and Jasper was inclined to agree. "There are enough of us that want to hunt before this, so we're all going to go. It shouldn't take us much longer than an hour before we've hunted. Is that okay?"

"Yeah, it's fine. I'll let you know when we're booked. However, note that I need you to pay for your own tickets. I'm not made of money, unlike some." He hung up on that note, and I looked around at my family who had come in during the last moments of my phone call as we all prepared to hunt. I sighed at the smug looks on their faces.

"You didn't really think I'd let you pick a fight with the biggest vampires around without me, did you little sister?" Emmett asked, grinning ear to ear.

"No, I guess not. C'mon, let's go hunt," I said dejectedly, pushing my way through my family. Edward was right behind me, with Alice and Jasper behind him.

"I won't be joining you on the hunt," Carlisle mentioned before we had gotten downstairs. I paused to look up at him. "I'm going to call Eleazar; he was a member of the Volturi for a while. Maybe he can shed some light as to why they may have decided to do this, and give us some advice on the best way of approaching them." I nodded, and continued out of the house. I broke into a run as soon as I could, impatient to hunt, and impatient to leave.

***

To an outsider, it must have looked like a strange group to be going on holiday together. We were all waiting in the airport for our flight, sitting around in groups. The Cullen's congregated together on the other side of the waiting area, looking beautiful, pale and mysterious. I sat with my russet coloured past, attracting strange looks from passers by, because I clearly belonged with the pale strangers on the other side of the room. I was unsure as to why I was the only one who would sit anywhere near Blake and Jacob. I had deduced it was to either try to reduce tension or to give us some privacy, but I was grateful regardless. As the sun rose in the low in the sky, I turned to look at Blake.

While sitting and waiting, we had often held each others glances. Sometimes we smiled as we caught each other looking, other times sadness would fill our eyes. This time there was a certain amount of wonder in Blake's face, and he was looking at me completely, rather than just my face. I followed his gaze, and saw that the sun was dimly hitting my skin, making it shine like diamonds. Sighing, I stood up and walked away from the sunshine, back into the shade, hiding from nature. I apologised with a small smile, and watched as Jacob quickly explained why I had moved.

I sat in silence, not paying attention to the conversation around me. I observed the airport, watching closely as the humans rushed around, trying to fit everything they wanted into their life. For each and every one of them, time was running out. They wasted so much time sleeping, eating, drinking, romancing, and it was a wonder anything happened at all. I watched as a child, who had been sleeping in her mother's arms, woke. She yawned, and smiled up at her mother's face. I listened as she told her mother all about a dream she had been having, about fairies and endless time. I smiled at the innocence, at the beauty, that one small child could have. Without notice, she turned and looked my way, and my smile faded. Fear washed across her face before she started to cry. Quickly, I looked away before her mother would place me as the cause of her daughter's distress.

My eyes turned to watch the day dawn. The sun was midway up the sky now, casting a low light on most of the room. Seattle was awaking in front of me; the start of a new day. One of the rare sunny days the state of Washington had. These were my favourite type of days when I was human and just moved to Forks; before I met Edward, anyway. The feeling of rare sunshine on my skin; the way the light reflected off the greenery; the peace that the sun always brought me, I missed it. Nature was beautiful, and there were times where it made me want to cry, for reasons unknown. Watching nature unfold in front of me, while waiting in an airport, ready to run off to what could be my own demise, was one of those times. Suddenly, I was dry sobbing, unable to take my eyes away from the beauty. Edward was comforting me in seconds.

"Bella, love, what's wrong?" he asked, panicked by my sudden change in emotion. I couldn't reply. He turned to look at Jasper for an explanation.

"She's feeling nothing but blissfulness; pure peace," he said, confused. "There is nothing in there to explain why she's crying..." I wanted to be able to explain, but I couldn't. I tried to pull myself together, but it was overwhelming. Nature is constant, unwavering. It had nothing to fear; without doubt, the sun will set, and then rise again. There will always be rain, even after the longest drought. It is all in perfect balance, even after millions of years. It was awe-inspiring to look at, to think about.

My whole family, including Jacob, were crowding around me now, as the sobs turned into hysterics. Nature had a way of correcting itself – is that what happened to Charlie? Did I mess up my natural life so much that it had to affect him? Was it fate? Nature was living and dying. I could never die, so I couldn't be natural, and didn't have the natural beauty that normal people had. Regret suddenly flushed through me as I realised, years too late, that death is the most beautiful part of life. To live was to die, and for the past hundred years, I hadn't been living. The knowledge that one day death will come can give people strength. To know that no matter what happens, we'd all be in a better place, allows people to take chances, to have no regrets: to actually live. This is what I had been neglecting to do. Every action I did would always have a consequence, forever. So the chances I would have, or should have taken, I didn't. Human life is beautiful, and I shouldn't have thrown it away. Even though I had everything I ever wanted with Edward, and I would always have him, it's not the same. It would never be the same as the life that Jessica Stanley would have had. Because of my life choices, I never saw my son grow up. I let my father die in my own attempt to stay away from death. I never experienced what it was to be an adult, a human adult; I never experienced life. I watched at the sun continued its natural course up the sky as this realisation hit me, and regret consumed me.

I could hear Jasper explain another mood change in whispers when I felt burning arms around me. I inhaled deeply, memorising the woody smell from behind. The arms brought me peace again, but not over whelming this time. There was happiness also, because through the flames the arms brought, I realised another thing. Jacob was standing in front of me smiling, so it was Blake who was hugging me.

"C'mon, Mom, its time to board," he whispered into my ear, as he gently pulled me up and we all merged towards the suddenly nervous check in clerk.


	10. Italy

**A/N: I'm SO sorry for the delayed updates and for this being quite short. I've got the whole story planned in my head now it's just finding time to write it. I'm hoping I'll be able to write more this week, and update sooner than before. I hope this doesn't disappoint.**

_Chapter Song – Falls Apart – Hurt_

_I messed up again when I tried  
You spend all your money and died.  
And, oh! By the way,  
With all you did nothing has changed  
So lie like a waste by the side_

_  
As everything just falls apart  
'Cause everything just fell apart for me_

Italy

Blake was asleep in my arms as the plane started to descend. We had spent the majority of the plane trip talking about everything; what adventures we had been on over the past hundred years, the things we'd seen, and the people we met. I felt like I was actually getting to know my son. I looked over to Edward and saw him smiling down at me. I lifted my shield, _I love you_, I thought. His crooked smiled clearly said 'I love you too'. I searched for other members of my family. Jacob was fast asleep against the window, snoring lightly and drooling slightly. Alice was lying peacefully on Jasper's shoulder, appearing asleep, but of course, she wasn't. Jasper was watching Alice, and they radiated love and trust. Emmett, Rosalie and Esme were all in deep, but quiet, conversation. They were discussing the best way to approach to Volturi, but hadn't come up with a way they were all happy with. Carlisle was walking towards us, a strained look on his face. He sat in a spare sit next to us and breathed in deeply, closing his eyes. When he opened them again, it was clear that what he had to say wasn't going to be good.

"I've been thinking about the conversation I had with Tanya and her family before we boarded. Eleazar was in the Volturi for some years before he found Carmen and left. He doesn't understand why they would have taken Charlie, but he said it can't be good. He doesn't think we'll make it out alive, even with my presence. He asked we didn't go, especially not with the werewolves along side us..." He shot a pained glance toward my son, and turned to face me. "Bella, you are my family, and as such, Blake and Jacob are too. I would do anything for you, include trying to get this resolved, but you have to understand, the chances are not in our favour." Guilt washed through me as I realised what Carlisle was trying to say. He was asking me, without out right saying it, to reconsider; we would not all get out alive. My composure was close to breaking, and Jasper turned to face me with a knowing look in his eyes. As a result, Edward's arms tightened around me.

"Bella, no matter what, I'll here. I promise you I will go wherever you go." I sensed the double meaning behind Edward's words.

"You mean, even if I died, you'd follow me there," I said, rather than asked. He nodded once, and I couldn't face him anymore. "I'm sorry to be asking this of you. All of you."

"They don't blame you, Bella. They also want to know what happened to Charlie, and that is why they follow us, despite the risks. Don't blame yourself for anything that may, or may not, happen. Do you understand?" I nodded and lapsed into silence as the plane landed.

***

The sun was setting as we walked through the dark car parks under the airport. No one was talking, our thoughts dwelling on what was about to happen. I heard Esme gasp in the silence, and quickly turned to face her. Her eyes were locked ahead, and I followed the gaze. In front of us stood Tanya's family, smiling broadly. We approached them quickly, and after initial embraces, we started to question their presence.

"What are you doing here?" Carlisle asked Tanya. She nodded in mine, and my Quileute family, direction.

"Curiosity as to why the Volturi would do this. And we didn't think it would end well with such a small gathering. We'll be more prepared this way. Have you spoken to the wolves about not going in?"

"What?" Jacob and Blake both shouted in unison.

"I take that as a 'no'," chuckled Kate. I turned to look at them, and tried to find the right words.

"I know how much you want to be in there with us, but it's not safe for us, let alone for you. As soon as the Volturi realise what you are, they will kill you. I can't lose you so quickly after just finding you again."

"But it's alright for them to kill you, is it?" Blake sneered. "I overheard the conversation you had with Carlisle before landing. Why does your death mean less than mine? The chances of any of us coming out are slim, apparently. Why do you ask different of me than yourself? Why should I live while I know my mother could die?" I had no response, and so accepting defeat, I turned back to Tanya.

"They're coming too." They exchanged looks between each other, but said nothing more on the matter. "It's getting dark, so if we're quick enough, we may be able to get this done tonight. Let's go."

Night had fallen and picked cars to drive to Volterra, the faster the better. Quickly, the outer walls could be seen, and I was struck by the sheer beauty of it. I could understand why these monsters would want to live here. We parked up and worked our way through the streets, finding the entrance to where the Volturi stay. I expected something dark, and dank, and was surprise when Eleazar led us to an office entrance.

"The Volturi live here?" Blake scoffed, vocalising my surprise. Eleazar nodded, but didn't say anything as he led us inside. It was neutrally decorated, and to my surprise, there was a human sitting behind the desk. She looked us over, and clearly knew what we were. I glanced at Edward, and he just shrugged. Whatever she was thinking wasn't enough to warrant an explanation to the bizarre explanation. I heard her take in a deep breath before she smiled and addressed us.

"Hello, how many I help you this evening?"

"We request an audience with Aro, please," Eleazar said. The girl's eyes flickered at the size of the group, and smiled as a confirmation. She picked the phone up and dialled a number, and sat and watched us while it rang.

"Hello, Mr Aro. There is a group of people here who are requesting to see you."

"Who are they?" Needless to say, everyone in the room could hear the other side of the conversation, and so Carlisle piped up.

"Just tell him it's the Cullen's." Fear flashed across the girl's face as she realised we could hear the conversation she was having. Edward grinned at some inner thought she was probably having.

"The Cullen's, sir."

"The Cullen's? As in, Carlisle?" Carlisle nodded at this.

"Yes, sir."

"I'll send Alec to come meet them. Keep them comfortable."

"Yes, sir." The phone was put down, and the girl took in a deep breath. She smiled again, and beckoned us to sit while we wait. Only Jake and Blake decided to do. We were only waiting about five minutes before a small boy in a black robe came to greet us. He looked no older than ten, but his deep red eyes sent shivers down my spine. He said nothing, but gestured for us to follow. Jacob was resistant, and I shot him a puzzled looked.

"He was there the day Charlie was taken," he muttered, anger shaking his voice. I took his hand as a way of reassurance, and pulled him to follow my family, as they were already leaving.

He led us along a hallway and into a large room. During the walk to the main chamber, I had caught up with Edward and Blake, and was currently holding their hands as tightly as I could. I gasped when I saw the main room. The room was made of stone, and in the middle sat three old vampires. I recognised them from pictures at the Cullen's house, and could easily identify Aro, Marcus and Caius. Around them stood more vampires, all in a protective stance. We were definitely out numbered, and I prayed that it wouldn't end in a fight. Aro stood and came to meet us, his hand extended.

"Carlisle, my old friend! It's been far too long, what have you been doing with yourself? And Eleazar! Fancy you being here as well. Have your two covens joined together? I was told it was only the Cullen's here today. My, how your family has grown, Carlisle." Carlisle smiled warmed at Aro, but refused to take his hand.

"Good evening, Aro. It has indeed been far too long. Sorry about the unannounced journey here. We mean you no harm, but we have come with a... question, as such."

"Oh, and what might that be, friend?" Aro had noticed the refusal to shake hands, and was slowly retreated back into the dense protection of his guard. Carlisle seemed unsure how to go forward from this point, and as such, I decided to take charge. I let go to Edward's and Blake's hand, and stepped forward. I heard Edward call out for me not to go, but I ignored him.

"One hundred years ago, I was human. My name is Isabella Swan, and you came, and you took my father. I wish to know why, and what you did to him." My voice was strong and full of conviction, but inside I was terrified. Aro continued to look at me, but there was a form of comprehension on his face.

"Isabella Swan... Yes, I remember your case well."

"My case?" I asked, shocked. He smiled at me, showing his teeth slightly.

"Oh, yes. 'The girl who knew too much,' I think was what you were referred to for a while. You see, we were visited by a nomad vampire named Victoria." Horror washed through me, quickly followed by guilt. I retreated back to Edward's arms, where he held me closely, and protectively. "I see you remember her," Aro chuckled. "She came to us, and said that the Cullen's were breaking the main vampire law; they'd told you everything about them, but had no intention of turning you. Well, we couldn't exactly allow that, and we gave Victoria time to kill you herself, before we intervened. However, time went by, and there was no trace of Victoria. We went to Forks, just a small group of us, to find you. But to our surprise, you were dead, the Cullen's were gone, and your father had been left alone, unprotected. Sadly, we didn't know what he knew, if he knew anything at all. So we had to take him, and we had to make sure he didn't know anything."

I stared in horror at what I was hearing. I wasn't the only one appalled by it. Jacob and Blake were shaking, and I wanted to touch them, to tell them to calm down, but I couldn't move. Aro looked at us with mischief in his eyes, and I knew the story wasn't over yet.

"It turns out he didn't know anything about what the Cullen's really were, but then, he did know about us. So what did we do? Well, maybe this will explain it better than any words I could possibly use." He snapped his fingers, and the backdoors opened, revealing more vampire guards. They marched out like soldiers, and I gasped loudly when I recognised the dark red eyes from one of the vampires; the eyes of my father.


	11. Battle

**A/N: I actually quite like this chapter. I'm unsure where I want to finish this story, but I have at least one more chapter in my head planned. It's just finding time to write it. Luckily for you guys, I had time tonight ;) Anyway, I hope you enjoy.**

**And just think - it's like.... 24 hours pretty much until 20th! :D Yeah, I have midnight showings. I'm happy.  
**

_Chapter Song – Get Out Alive – Three Days Grace_

_If I stay it won't be long  
Till I'm burning on the inside  
If I go I can only hope  
That I make it to the other side  
If you want to get out alive  
oh, run for your life_

Battle

I stood frozen, unable to move. Composure fell apart around me; Edward let out a cry of outrage, echoed by Alice. Blake fell apart completely, and phased. He went to attack Aro, but was stopped by the massive wolf body of Jacob, and from the way he bowed under the body; I guessed Jacob was using an Alpha command. The Volturi guard wasn't silent either. They moved into an attacking stance when two enormous wolves materialised in front of them. Jacob pushed Blake back, behind the line of vampires, still trying to calm him down. It was then that Rosalie let out a high pitched scream, and fell to the floor, twitching.

"Jane," I heard Edward curse, and I realised that Jane was using her 'gift' to hurt her. I collected enough composure to throw my shield out to cover my family. Rosalie stopped twitching and Esme and Emmett ran over to her and helped her up. As Esme rushed past me, I noticed the dead look in her eyes. I looked around, and saw the same look in everyone's eyes. Either we left now, and never came back, or we would die.

"Interesting company you keep, Carlisle," Aro said conversationally, as if nothing had just happened.

"The term 'family' has many different branches, Aro. Both Jacob and Blake are part of our family. Blake is the grandson of Charlie." Charlie looked puzzled by the reference to any sort of relationship between him and the wolf in front of him.

"He doesn't remember, does he?" I asked Edward sadly.

"It appears his mind is also shielded from me. I guess you got it from him. But yes, I assume that he doesn't remember." I looked at Charlie, studied his face, but there was no recognition in his eyes. He had no idea who I was, and I felt my world fall apart again.

"Dad..." I started, but stopped when I felt a slight pressure to my shield. It was aimed directly at Edward, and I turned to face Jane. "Do you mind?" I sneered. She glared, but the pressure stopped. I turned back towards Charlie, who looked confused at the interaction Jane and I just had. I couldn't find the words to explain anything, and I sighed. The Volturi guards were still in an offence position, and I was concerned that whatever words I used may spark a fight we wouldn't win. I turned to face Blake and Jacob, and was shocked to see Jacob in human form again.

"Maybe we should just leave. There's nothing for us here," I said, admitting defeat. In my peripheral vision I saw the guards relax for the most part.

"Is that what you want, Bella?" Jacob asked me. Blake whined beside him, and I knew it wasn't what he wanted.

"No, it's not. But I don't want to die either." I didn't bother keeping my voice down, because I knew they would be able to hear, whispering or not. I turned to face Aro, and he was smiling. "We've got our answers, we'll be going now." The smile on Aro's face grew and if I had any blood running through my body, it would have turned to ice.

"I'm not sure it will be that easy, my friend," a voice said, Caius. "Werewolves are to be killed. You may leave, but the wolves must die." A feral snarl escaped me, which was returned by another sharp pressure on my shield, again directed towards Edward. Anger like I'd never felt before flared in me, and I felt a change in my shield. Suddenly, Jane was whimpering in pain on the floor. All eyes were on me and I realised that I had, somehow, reflected Jane's gift back towards her. The Volturi started to look uneasy.

"We're all leaving," I repeated. I watched as Aro quickly glanced towards one side of his guard, and stood still as a statue as they formed a block between us and the door. It appeared we wouldn't be leaving without a fight. There was still uncertainty coming from the Volturi, but I could tell they thought they would win. I was sure they would. I turned to Edward, and lifted my shield from me alone. _I'm sorry to do this to you, I love you. _He nodded, and I continued. _We're not going to go down without a fight, but I want you to try and get out. Look after Blake for me. Try getting Charlie to go with you. _

"I'm not leaving without you, Bella," Edward whispered, pulling me close to him.

"You have to. Someone has to tell our story, right?"

"We will, together." I shook my head, no longer having optimism.

"Bella, we're in this together, remember? If the Volturi will not let us leave together, we'll fight together, and if need be, we'll die together. But it's not our day to die," Emmett said with vindication.

"Brave words, Emmett. It doesn't appear your family agree with your... optimism, however," Aro leered. _I have an idea; cover me_ I thought to Edward. He nodded, and that was taken as a cue from both sides. Emmett charged for the biggest built, Felix, and they were soon bouncing off of the walls, breaking whatever they hit. Rosalie went for the small brown haired girl who had lunged for Esme. Alice and Jasper took on Alec and Jane, who were defenceless as my shield was up and protecting my family from them. Carlisle and Edward was protecting me from any attacks that I couldn't see. Jacob had phased and was attacking random members of the guards with Blake, trying to get to near Aro. The Denali clan were fighting for their own well being as well. Kate's offensive gift was coming in handy, and no one could have hold of her for long. Fighting raged beside me, but I stood perfectly still, concentrating on Charlie. Aro's eyes were on me, I could feel them boring in, but I wasn't going to get distracted.

"_Dad_," I called out, in my head. I had an idea; Jacob said that Blake and Quil could interact mentally. They had the same gifts Charlie and I had, so why couldn't we? I just didn't have time to perfect it, and I was going on pure instinct. "_Dad, listen to me_." Charlie's eyes focused on me, a shocked expression on his face. I smiled. "_You can hear me, can't you?_" He nodded.

"I hope whatever it is your doing Bella is working, because I don't know how much longer I can hold these off," Edward called. Fear gripped me, and I knew I had to try to get Charlie to join us.

"_Dad, can you respond? Just concentrate on me, really hard, and think like you are talking to me._"

"_Why do you keep calling me 'dad'?_" Charlie replied mentally. I sighed, relieved. I couldn't explain, so I just thought. I thought of all the memories I had of Charlie. The times we went on holiday together. When I came to live with him; the days out, the fishing, the cooking, the laughter. I remembered all the times Edward came round, and Charlie's dislike towards him. I remembered the argument about being pregnant. I told him what really happened, about turning into a vampire. I talked about leaving, and where I went. And then I told him about Blake, about what he had told me, and about what I wanted, what I needed. I kept my eyes closed, trying to block out the sounds around me. It was difficult; I kept hearing vampire flesh being torn, and with every screech, I wondered whether it was my family, or the Volturi. Charlie was getting these concerns as well, as they tinted what I showed him.

I do not know how long we stood there, with me showing him everything I could remember. I heard my name called many times, but I couldn't respond. I felt more pressure on my shield, and I reflected it in the same way as before. Jane often let out small gasps of pain, but she soon gave up. There was a moment when there was a cloaking feeling over my shield. I guessed it was Alec trying to blind us, but I reflected that too. It was messy, and I had to get angry, which I could feel was confusing Charlie. It was like our minds were connected; he could see what I wanted him to see, but when there was sudden emotion or thoughts, he'd get those too. And visa versa, which was how I knew I had been successful at repelling Alec, because there was a sudden fear from Charlie.

Once I had finished telling him everything, there was silence in our minds. He was still trying to process what I had said, and I was hoping he'd believe me. Suddenly, _"Why can't I remember you? If you are my daughter, I would remember. I could never forget anything as important as that. And why would you lie to me, and fake your own death and..." _There were a lot of unanswered, and painful, questions Charlie was asking. I explained that human memories fade if they're not replayed or thought upon after changing. I lingered on my human life, not wanting to completely let go. I gently explained why I betrayed him, why I lied. Edward being a vampire was something I couldn't tell him for his own protection, to save him from this.

"I'm sorry you ever had to be dragged into this, Charlie," I whispered aloud. There was such regret in my voice that Charlie started towards me. He stopped, conflicted. I smiled wistfully, and continued talking to him mentally. _"After Edward left me, you did that a lot. You'd come forward, wanting to embrace me, but unsure whether it would be beneficial for me. You did everything you possibly could for me, Dad." _I recalled those painful months after Edward left me. Every day Charlie would be there, trying to encourage me to get back on track. He was so understanding towards me, accepting my distance moods. I remembered the moment Sam Uley took me home after finding me in the forest, and showed him the effort he put in to finding me. I thought about Harry, and how Charlie felt after Harry's death; how we supported each other and worked as a family.

Then he thought of something: _I remember... green. _The forests of Forks rushed into my head, with blood marks everywhere. On the floor was a large puddle of dried blood, and there was a trail leading deeper into the forest. Footprints, which looked like that of a bear, were seen on the sight. Jacob was there, holding a small baby. Charlie collapsed on the ground, sobbing. Sue Clearwater was comforting him, but to no avail. It was the place where I 'died', where Jacob and Edward had worked together, as a team, to cover up my transformation. _All of that heartache... And you were alive. _There was anger, but happiness too. More memories came from Charlie: my funeral. Everyone was there, and everyone was crying. Jessica was holding Mike's hand, and they were both silently sobbing. Angela was placing a flower on my grave, trying to be brave, but broke down before reaching her chair. Ben rushed forward to comfort her. Jacob and Blake walked up, and Jacob placed a picture of me and him on my grave, before kissing Blake's head and sitting back down with Charlie. Both Jacob and Charlie were inconsolable.

Another one: the night the Volturi came. Charlie was asleep when he heard the howls of the wolves. _Not again,_ he had thought. He walked out toward the bathroom, and past my room. He froze when he saw my bedroom door was open. He never opened the door, because he couldn't bear to look inside. Nothing had changed since I had left. There was a shadow in the window; a girl. His heart skipped a beat. _'Bella?' _he had called out. The girl turned around, with bright red eyes. Fear gripped Charlie, but so did a pair of hands from behind. Cold hands covered his eyes and mouth. He tried to breathe, but couldn't. He tried to struggle but couldn't move. _'She's not here,'_ the girl, Jane, from in my room had said. _'We'll just take him and go back to Aro. This human will be able to tell us what happened. Then we'll just... snack.' _I shuddered at how close my father came to dying.

"I'm sorry," I said, aloud again.

"Its okay, Bells." My heart soared at the use of his nickname for me.

_"Come back with us," _I thought. He started to reply, but at scream of sheer heartache and pain came from the back of the room. All fighting ceased, and fear griped me. There was a burst of triumphant laughter, but it didn't come from any of my family. I spun and saw the look of horror on most of my family's faces. There was one face missing. Desperately, I spun around, looking for the face I wanted to see, that I needed to see. That's when I felt the round object roll onto my leg.

I looked down, and saw the short, black spiky hair lying loosely around the detached head. Edward's arms were quickly around me, but I fell down, screaming Alice's name over and over again.


	12. Closure

**A/N: Final main chapter for this story. I hope you've all enjoyed it. I'm going to write a epilogue, but I don't know if I'll actually turn it into another story, or whether it'll just be there for you own thoughts and ideas. It's just something I wanna play with. **

**Thank you for all the reviews, and people who have added me as a fav author and such. I feel loved whenever I get those emails :D  
**

_Chapter Song – Never Too Late – Three Days Grace_

_Now and again we try, _

_To just stay alive._

_Maybe we'll turn it all around_

'_Cause it's not too late,_

_It's never too late. _

Closure

"Emmett, stop Jasper. Quickly," Edward called out, a mere instant before Jasper lunged for Demetri, the one who had laughed; the one who had killed Alice. Edward still had his arms around me, trying to calm me down. I was gently stroking Alice's head, while trying to search for the rest of her body. It was mostly in one piece, but there was a few limbs scattered around the room. I closed my eyes tight, trying to get away from the image, but it followed me. I let out a sob.

Feral snarls were coming from Jasper, who was currently struggling against Emmett's arms. The Volturi stood still; apparently they too were also shocked by the string of events. Aro looked confused.

"She couldn't see, the shape-shifters were blocking her visions. She never saw it coming..." Edward replied to an unheard question. His voice was emotionless, dead. _Alice Cullen was like a daughter to me_, Charlie's voice resounded in my head. I just sob harder, trying to force out tears that would never fall. There was anger in Charlie's mind, a deep loathing for the man who did this; the main who brought this whole thing about. Aro.

It was a snap judgement, but Charlie quickly formulated his plan and told me to be ready.

"Be ready," I whispered to Edward trying to gain composure. I struggled, but stood up, letting Alice fall to the floor, and got out a lighter with shaking hands. There was a cry of disbelief from my side of the family, but I didn't have time to explain. Edward followed suit, though he was unsure. I looked Charlie once more in the eye, and there was a slight nod from him. I bent to pick up Alice, and gathered all the parts of her strewn body, and placed them all together in one pile. Aro watched intensely, with sadness in his eyes.

There was another loud metallic screech, and a thump. Charlie had torn Aro's head and thrown it across the room at Demetri with such force, that Demetri was knocked backwards. Realising what had happened, Emmett, Jasper and Edward quickly joined in to the destruction of Aro, and soon there was a pile of burning remains. The sweet smell met my nose, and I turned to look at the two remaining Volturi leaders. Fear gripped them, not expecting such a betrayal from Charlie. No one moved, everyone just watched the flames. As the flames slowly died out, Edward came back to join me, followed by Emmett, who was trying to consol Jasper, but to no avail, and Charlie, who was looking unsure. I extended my hand towards him, _this is where you belong,_ I told him.

Together, we stood over the collection of body parts. Jasper and Esme wouldn't look, but I couldn't tear my eyes away. I didn't need Jasper's empathy to feel the despair radiating from my family. I looked up to see Edward, and saw so much anguish in his eyes that I struggled to articulate my question.

"What happens now?" I asked. "I mean... Do we take her home... or..." I left the question hanging, not sure what the alternatives were. I felt Jacob phased behind me, and his hand was place on my shoulder, burning me. I turned to face him, and he threw his arms around me.

"We take her home," Carlisle said sadly. "She was a Cullen, she'll stay with us. We'll... we'll bury her, outside the house." There was a murmur of agreement and nods.

"Wait, what?" Jacob asked, shock on his face. Everyone turned to glare at him, myself included. I went to say something, but he just spoke over me. "Have you guys forgotten something? You're _vampires_!"

"I don't think that's something we could particularly forget, _dog_," sneered Edward. There was movement behind us, and I turned to watch the Volturi leaving through the backdoor. Caius shot us one last filthy look before slamming the door. I took a deep, unnecessary breath to calm myself.

"Well, you seem to have forgotten the main bit of lore on killing you. You need to _burn_ the remains." Hope suddenly sparked up in Jasper's eyes. "Alice hasn't been burnt, she's still alive. Look," he bent down and moved the disjointed pieces so they were all in the right place. Slowly, they started to fuse back together. It was a slow process, but with every small movement, more hope could be seen. Jasper reached out and held her hand, waiting for it to be completely reattached. No one spoke. Suddenly, Alice's eyes snapped open.

"Oh, thank God," I heard Jasper sigh. He pulled his wife into the tightest hug I had ever seen, and we all followed suit. If Alice was human, we probably would have suffocated her to death.

***

The plane landed in Seattle just as Jacob woke up. He shook Blake awake, and smiled at me. I sat in between Charlie and Edward, and I spent the entire plane journey talking to Charlie. I had never felt so happy. My whole family was here, alive and well. Charlie was going to move into the Cullen house until he could find somewhere to stay by himself. He was showing extreme amount of control over his thirst, although he had hunted shortly before our encounter. I had explained the Cullen way of life, and although Charlie didn't seem to understand the desire to drink animal blood, he said he would try the lifestyle.

There was a welcoming committee waiting for us when we stepped out of the airport. Blake had told Quil what had happened, and the entire pack was waiting to welcome Charlie. Seth was the only one who Charlie may have remembered, but the sight brought a smile to his face. After explaining about the pack, and Blake, Charlie realised that these huge Quileute boys were a part of the family too.

We said goodbye to Blake and Jacob, and they went back to La Push. Charlie was invited to go, but after assessing the safety of the humans in La Push, the invite was quickly withdrawn. We all bundled into the cars, and drove back to Forks. Charlie's face held a number of wonders as the forests flashed by.

"Is this where everything happen, Bells?" he asked.

"Yup. For me, this was the beginning, the end, and the epilogue," I smiled. "Charlie, are you happy?"

"Yes, why?" He was confused by the question, so I felt the need to explain it further.

"No, I mean... Was you happy? With the Volturi. The past one hundred years, a lot must have happened. Do you regret it? Do you wish you never agreed for me to live with you?" I needed some form of justification to ease some of the guilt I was feeling. Despite being the happiest I'd been in a long time, seeing Charlie in front of me, as a vampire, was enough to drive me mad with guilt. He sat, pondering the question. I didn't think he was going to answer, wanting to save me more grief, when he replied.

"I don't regret it, not at all. You are happy; you found the love of your li... Existence. And I couldn't ask for anything more from my daughter. Even better, I get to see you happy, see you adjusted. As for my life as a vampire, with the Volturi... It wasn't bad. They treated me with great respect because of my shield. I was able to protect myself from every mental gift I was put up against, and with training, I could protect others too. However," he smiled wide, "Apparently your skills with your shields is far greater than mine!" He laughed, joyously.

"It look years of practise, trust me. Not to mention some basic instincts, when it came down to it. I never knew I could reflect the gifts I was shielding. I was just... so angry..." I trailed off, pondering on how I had inflecting Jane's gift. "Wait, Dad, if you're protected from mental gifts, why were you scared when I deflected Alec's attack?"

"I could only protect one person at a time. Either it was just me, or it was Aro, or Caius. Mostly, I had to constantly protect Aro. I had my own body guard to protect me, because it took a lot of concentration to protect Aro. My shield isn't flexible. You'll have to teach me how to do it like you do."

"Oh," I said. I was inwardly fuming at the exploitation of my father. The nerve of Aro, asking Charlie to be defenceless just to protect him! I was glad he was dead. As if Charlie was listening to my thoughts, he started speaking again.

"It's not over, you know that, right?"

"What do you mean?" I asked. Edward, who had been silently driving, turned his head slightly, indicating he was listening.

"The Volturi, although beaten for the first time ever, will not give up. Caius is cunning, and angry. And Marcus, despite looking bored, is vindictive. They will want revenge for Aro's death and they will come after you, and you're family. We should prepare for an oncoming war."

"What about the Denali clan?" Edward asked, "Will they be targeted, also?"

"Yes, most probably."

"Life is never simple, is it?" I asked. "Just as everything I ever wanted actually happens, some dark threat on the horizons threats to ruin it."

"Relax, Bella," Edward said. "The Volturi will need time to get themselves together and gain enough confidence to even think about coming up against us. And by that time, we'll be prepared. I promise you, they will not beat us." I nodded silently, and tried to forget about it.

"Aro was the brains behind the three, so it will take some time. You needn't worry right now." Charlie turned to look out the window, and sighed.

"What's wrong?" I asked, suddenly concerned. He turned to face me, and I tried not to shudder at the sight of his eyes. Although they were not as vibrant as when in Italy, the red irises unnerved me. That was when I saw the black rims, and I realised that Charlie was thirsty. "Edward, stop the car." We were nearly at the Cullen's and there were no humans around. Edward shot me a puzzled look from the front, and I left my shield _'Charlie needs to hunt.' _The car slowed to a stop, and I got out and Charlie followed.

"I'll meet you at home. I love you," Edward said, before pulling away. I started to run deep into the woods, and Charlie followed. _I'm going to cut off your sense, just in case, _I thought Charlie mentally, before shielding him from his sense of smell. He gasped when his smell was gone, but didn't complain. I did this just to make sure that, should a stray human be around, Charlie wouldn't hunt them.

We went further and further into the woods, but didn't stop. It wasn't until we were about fifteen miles from any form of settlement that we stopped, and I gave Charlie his sense of smell back.

"You totally have to show me how you do that," Charlie laughed.

"One day," I promised, before sniffing what was around. "Can you smell that?" I asked. It was a mountain lion. Charlie didn't look impressed with what he smelt; I laughed. I gestured for him to go for it. He hunted like a big cat, and quickly brought the lion down. He quickly drained it, and then turned to look at me.

"Strangely, I feel quenched. The taste isn't... perfect or even near perfect, but it works." His eyes weren't bright red like before, but they still weren't the topaz that I was use to.

"Let's head back," I suggested. We started running, but I didn't block his sense of smell this time. I hoped it wouldn't be necessary. We were nearly home when I caught the scent of a human, and I froze. I turned to face Charlie, and saw he smelt it too. There was a crazed look in his eye, but he continued running back to house. I followed close behind, ready to act if need be.

We reached the house without any interruptions. There was pride on Charlie's face. "I did it," was all he said, before he went inside. He was taken back by the beauty of the house, and even more so when Esme showed him to his room. It used to be the guest room, but it had been made up for Charlie. He was presented with a credit card and told to feel free to use it to decorate his room in whatever way he wanted. He nodded and thanked Esme, before excusing himself to solitude. I left him to his thoughts, understanding that this was a huge adjustment, and I would just have to trust him to talk to me when he needed to.

I went and sat with Edward, and smiled up at him. He placed him arms around me, and we just held each other for long period of time, not talking, just enjoying. We did this a lot in the past, especially the times when we'd have our own house. I lifted my shield to him. _Let's move out,_ I thought. It was about time to have some alone time with Edward, especially now that my father would bet here, listening to everything that would happen. Edward went to reply verbally, but I stopped him.

Concentrating, I tried to find how I repel gifts on my shield. I couldn't feel Edward's mind reading ability apply pressure on me, but I knew it was there. Without using anger as a trigger, I managed to feel Edward. I willed the gift back towards him, and suddenly: _What is she doing? _

"Ha!" I shouted, exuberantly. I sat up quickly and turned to face him.

"What?" Edward replied, concerned. I was grinning from ear to ear, and didn't respond. Instead, I concentrated again... _Beautiful, but confusing. I don't think I will ever fully understand this woman. _I laughed, and laid back down, resting my head on his shoulder.

"Let me know if you ever do figure me out, won't you?" I chuckled.

"Wait... what? How did you... Bella, what's going on?" _Are you reading my mind, or something? _

"Yup," I replied, short and sweet. His eyes widened, and his mouth opened into a shocked 'o'.

"But, but how?" he stammered.

"I repelled Jane and Alec's gifts. I figure I could do the same with others. You were just my taster, and I can do it. With a little practise, hopefully it'll come as easy to me as everything else."

"You are a brilliant, but terrifying creature, you know that?" Edward chuckled. "I think you give Alice a run for her money."

"Not a chance, sorry Bella," Alice shouted from upstairs. Since being back, she had spent all day in her room with Jasper, talking, touching, and thinking together. Losing each other had made them appreciate what time they had together more. I laughed, and cuddled closer into Edward.

Days passed, and we settled into a routine. I took Charlie hunting daily, trying to get him use to animal blood. He never complained, and never faltered. Edward and I planned to move out together, into a house in Forks. Blake came up most days, and we started to bond as a family. Strangely, he got on well with all of the Cullen's, especially Edward. He was grateful, I felt, towards Edward. Charlie and Blake picked up were they had left off, and were pretty much inseparable. Jacob didn't come up to the Cullen's, and I couldn't help but wonder why.

There was a day when the sun was out, and Blake and I were walking in the woods. He wanted to see what I looked like in the sun, not completely comprehending. I was taking him to the meadow. That was when I asked him about Jacob.

"So, how's your dad been recently? Haven't seen him since we got back..." I tried to be nonchalant, but it didn't work.

"Honestly, mom, he's avoiding you."

"Why?" I asked, hurt. The meadow was right in front of us, and we walked into it. I sat down in the middle, and turned to look at Blake. He looked in wonder at the glistening skin and the rainbows dancing off of them. I patted the ground next to me, and he sat. "Why is Jacob avoiding me?"

"He still loves you, mom. He's not been able to move on from you, and he hurts inside. He can't see you while you're happy, because it makes me wonder what would have happen if the Cullen's didn't return when they did..."

"Can you not get him here, please? I... I want to talk to him. Try to help him." I had no idea what I was going to say, but I had to do something. Blake nodded, and went off into the trees to phase. He was only gone for a short amount of time before he came back.

"He's on his way here," he said, smiling. "I'm not going to stay though. So, I'll see you later Mom." He bent me down and kissed me on the cheek. "Good luck." He walked off into the trees, where his father then walked out. They shared a look, and then Jacob walked over and sat down next to me.

"Sup, freaky Bella? Blake said you wanted to talk to me." He seemed so at ease, like there was nothing wrong.

"Why have you been avoiding me?" The look of ease left him.

"Blake talks too much," he replied, looking away and not meeting my eye. I lifted my hand to his, my faltered at the last minute. I didn't want to make this any harder for him. I sat, waiting for him to go on. He sighed. "I love you Bella, you know this. But I know that you love him, and that I can't compete. I can't go through the heartache of watching you two, I'm sorry..." His pain was apparent, and I wanted so much to hug him, and make it go away.

"I'm sorry, Jake..." I started, but stopped when Jake shook his head.

"Don't apologise, I know that you can't help who you love. It just..." He turned, and looked me directly into the eye. "If he didn't come back when he did, we would have had our son together, grown old together, and died together. But now we've lived unnatural, long, painful lives. We've gone through so much, but if we had just stuck together, none of that would have happened. It haunts me to this day to know that. I love you, so much Bella and I want to take away your pain. But I can't. And I can't sit back and do nothing. I can't..." Words failed him at this point.

"Do you know what's worse? I know what you mean. I see what you see, what we could have been. And I wish I could go back and try again, but I can't. I've been happy, despite the heartache, and I will be happy until someone kills me. I just wish you the same happiness."

"Ever since you've come back, I thought of nothing but kissing you. To feel those lips one more time. But they're not the lips I remember. I could touch you, and it would be completely different to before. It'll never be the same." The anguish was too much, and I wrapped my arms around him. I felt his lips against my neck, his breathe against my ear, his heartbeat against my chest, and I never felt so alive. His lips moved round to mine, and there was a gentle pressure. The fire of his heat blistered my lips, but I couldn't stop. His hands went through my hair, and my arms wrapped tighter round him. I felt the spark of desire that I always felt with him, and I pulled away.

"I... I'm sorry, I can't." He nodded.

"I understand." There was a sigh. "Bella, this has to be goodbye."

"Why?"

"Because I won't break up you and Edward, and I won't ruin your life. I want you to be happy. I'm going to do what I've not been doing for the past hundred years. I'm going to live. I'm going to find myself someone else, imprint maybe. I'll stop phasing, I'll grow old, and I'll die. It's how my life should have gone. All my loose ends have been tied up." I sat in horror, not sure what to say.

"Jake..." He put a finger to my lips.

"Don't, Bella. Don't ask me to stay, because I won't. I can't live any longer; it's already been too long." Tears were rolling down his face. "I don't want to say goodbye, but I don't want any more heartache."

"What about Blake?" I was grasping at straws, but I needed to make him see.

"Blake will make the same choice when he feels ready too. We can't live forever Bella." I was sobbing.

"I can't lose you Jacob, I can't..."

"Shh," he said, wrapping him arms around me. His tears fell on my, heating where they fell. He kissed my head, and whispered 'I love you' in my ear. He got up and walked to the edge of the meadow. "Goodbye Bella. I hope we both find the closure we need." I watched him walk into the forest, knowing I would never see Jacob Black again.

"I love you," I whispered. I sat in the meadow without moving until the sun set and Edward came to find me. "He's gone," I said, emotionless.

"I'm sorry," Edward responded. I could tell that he's was unsure how to act, and I just stared forward. I hoped Jacob would find closure, and I knew, like many things, that with Edward by my side, closure would find me too.


	13. Epilogue Morpheus

**A/N: This is the epilogue of this story, so its finally come to a close. In all honesty, I don't think I will write the next part, but it's there in my head, it's just having the time. I just wanted the possibilty of it but then, I don't want it to drag on. So, I'm not sure. Either way, hope you enjoyed. **

_Chapter Song – Overdose – Hurt _

_And once you told me that you loved me so much  
I foolishly began to trust, but  
Now I'm ignored and I'm taking more, till  
Something is happening._

Morpheus

Caius POV-

I sat, not watching, not listening, not thinking; I just sat. Around me, the Volturi fell into chaos, but I could not find it within myself to step up, to gain order. I could not think of what just happened to my brother, to Aro. The betrayal of Charlie ran deep, and some scars never healed. The pain held no words; I just sat.

***

Months passed, and I slowly regained composure. When I awoke from my catatonic state, I found Marcus had brought the Volturi back into some form of order. The loss of Aro was still apparent, but there was a different type of determination. I looked into the eye of my brother, and I saw a fire inside that I had not seen since the death of his wife. He left the death of his not avenged, but the death of his brother was too much. We didn't speak, we just knew. I nodded, and turned to the guard in front of me.

"Brothers," I called, gaining their attention. "We have lost someone dear to us, and old wounds may never heal. Aro was more than a leader to us, he was a father. He had our greatest respect, our love and we will not let the Cullen's get away with this. We will train, we will grow, we will fight, and we will conquer." I was shouting towards the end, but it had a good reception; the guards yelled in agreement, eager to get ready. I nodded, and withdrew back into my room, ready to plan the downfall of Charlie Cullen.


End file.
